Water as Blue Economy for Sustainable Growth in Pakistan

Abstract

: Water as Blue economy is a viable and prudent use of oceans and other water resources for the economic development of a country. Pakistan’s blue economic growth is heavily dependent on; aquatic life, agriculture, biotechnology, energy, health and recreational sector. The paper focuses the relationship of blue economy, i.e. water resources of Pakistan with respect to the several sectors and to investigate water as an economic commodity and highlighting the limiting factors which directly or indirectly affecting the blue economic development of the country thus suggesting the possible solution to overcome the barriers. The secondary data from 1992-2015 has been taken for the analysis of generation of blue capital in Pakistan. The contributing factors impeding the blue economy are; over-exploitation of oceanic resources, deterioration of water quality, lack of awareness and research activities for utilization of marine resources efficiently, bungling of water consumption practice in agriculture, dearth of consistent water ruling system, dilapidation of coastal ecosystem due to human activities, absence of infrastructure and technological advancement for energy production from stored or waste water, and lack of asset for the exploration of useful drugs and by-products from water sediment and in offshore energy production sector. The effective management and governance of available resources, especially for; Irrigation practices, political stability, effective policy framework, tangible investments in water-energy and technological sectors, accessibility of blue resources to the poor and under privilege community and efficient presiding system for the diminution of the synchronization gap between all controlling, monitoring and evaluation are required for viable blue economic development in Pakistan.