Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke to the nation in a brief televised address on Friday evening to appeal for donations to the dams fund set up by the Supreme Court.
"There is no question that we are faced with several significant problems," the prime minister said as he began the address. "Our debt today stands at Rs30,000 billion but the biggest problem we currently face is the water crisis.
"When Pakistan was made, every Pakistani had 5600 cubic metres of water. Today that stands at only 1000 cubic metres."
"We have storage capacity of only 30 days for water when the safe period for water storage is 120 days. India has a capacity of 90 days. This is why making the dam for us is so important."
Warning of the rapid depletion in Pakistan's water resources, the premier said the country would face drought-like conditions by 2025 if immediate steps were not taken.