Policy Analytics-Insights from Pakistan and India Water Policies
Policy Analytics-Insights from Pakistan and India Water Policies
Faheem Aslam1,*, Aneel Salman2, Inayatullah Jan3 and Sarah Siddiq Aneel4
ABSTRACT
The role of water in economic output, job creation, household sustenance, and industrial growth depends on the kind of water systems and policies a country develops and implements. Due to its value and importance in all aspects of life, water is a highly political issue. The purpose of this study is to explore the water policies of Pakistan (2017) and India (2012) through quantitative analysis of textual data. The text mining of these water policies enables to analyze the massive amounts of information quickly, making connections and surface important links between entities. The results show that Pakistan’s National Water Policy, 2017 is more comprehensive as compared to India’s National Water Policy, 2012. India’s water policy distinctively prioritizes industrial growth at the cost of its agriculture sector; and while it mentions inter-regional and inter-state disputes in sharing of water as detrimental, the issue is not tackled at length in the document. Pakistan’s policy, on the other hand, is more multi-sectoral in terms of focus on irrigation, agriculture, climate change, research and development, inland navigation and the importance of the Indus River. Pakistan’s water policy does, however, fall short in terms of lack of attention given to water sensitive urban designs, risk management against natural hazards and mapping of water-sector development in line with the Sustainable Development Goals; and trade in water-intensive crops. Both governments can learn from each other and update their respective water policies in the light of these quantitative findings.
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