ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Sci­ence and Technology Shibli Faraz Wednesday directed the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) to start work on a pilot project for water conservation in Islamabad. 

The minister issued the directive while chairing a meeting here regarding the issues re­lated to water conserva­tion in the country. 

PCRWR Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashraf, Indus River System Au­thority (IRSA) members Asjad Imtiaz and Zahid Abbass, and a represen­tative of International Water Management In­stitute (IWMI) attended the meeting. 

It was decided dur­ing the meeting that the Ministry of Science and Technology in partner­ship with IWMI-Pakistan would hold a national conference on emerg­ing water challenges, followed by an interna­tional conference. 

The conferences would be held within the man­date of PCRWR. The min­ister emphasized that the purpose of conferences should be to review wa­ter related issues, the ex­isting knowledge and de­velop a research agenda for future investment in the water sector. 

He said groundwa­ter and surface water management was a critical area and the PCRWR should pursue further research in that regard.

He stressed the need for maintaining a data repository to be main­tained by the PCRWR. 

He said the data of research projects must be translated into pol­icy actions which must contribute in the socio-economic development of the country.