Pakistan ratchets up heat on Indian 'Water terror'

Posted on 15 March 2010.

The Americans forced Field Marshall Ayub Khan to sign the Indus Water treaty. They had promised the construction of a dozen dams to alleviate the shortage of water (and electricity). Only the Mangla and Tarbeal were built. The other dams got delayed due to a myriad of issues–too lengthy to get into.

In a move that’s angered officials in Bharat (aka India), Islamabad successfully ratcheted up pressure on Delhi. Islamabad’s case on water has gotten it international support and it is now using that momentum to pressure Delhi on ”water controversy”. Pakistan has formally asked New Delhi to undertake “no construction of power generation works” on its western rivers. Pakistan demands that Delhi stop the water projects in Indian Occupied Kashmir. The dossier was handed over to the Indians in a pre-planned, well timed interruption during the Foreign Secretary-level talks two weeks ago.

The dossier is based on Islamabad’s well-publicized objections to the Kishenganga hydro-electric project and its earlier effort to scuttle the Baglihar project which the World Bank-appointed neutral observer objected to in 2007. The National Assembly of Pakistan resumed debate on construction of Baghliar and Kishan Ganga Dams and Wuller Barrage by India which were built in violation of Indus Basin Water Treaty.

“The management of water resources can be a catalyst for cross-border cooperation or a trigger for socio-economic instability, especially as relentless demographic and environmental pressures constrain the choices available to future leaders,” Erik Peterson, senior vice president of CSIS, told Circle of Blue. “Instability abroad can and does affect the United States negatively, and as a result there is a compelling case for the implementation of a far-reaching U.S. international water policy in the short term.” – Erik Peterson

Pakistan has not raised the issue at the United Nations but has raised it at the World Bank. This was done in accordance with the dispute-resolution mechanism spelt out in the Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan’s well documented set of objections have chagrined Delhi because the same issues are also being raised by Bangladesh. Pakistan is now getting half the water it used to receive from the three rivers that were alloted to Islamabad according to the Indus Water basin treaty.

The quest for water has taken on a national significance in light of the Pakistani National Finance Commission Awards (NFC) which recently were agreed to by the provinces in Pakistan. The NFC was agreed to after 13 years, and is a major accomplishment for Pakistan. The issue has become a national campaign championed by the ISI, the Army, government officials and other non government organizations. The Pakistan government was pressured by the civili society and pressure groups.

Among the 25 most populous countries in 2009, South Africa, Egypt and Pakistan are the most water-limited nations. India and China, however, are not far behind with per capita renewable water resources of only 1600 and 2100 cubic meters per person per year. Major European countries have up to twice as much renewable water resources per capita, ranging from 2300 (Germany) to 3000 (France) cubic meters per person per year. The United States of America, on the other hand, has far greater renewable water resources than China, India or major European countries: 9800 cubic meters per person per year. By far the largest renewable water resources are reported from Brazil and the Russian Federation – with 31900 and 42500 cubic meters per person per year. Riaz Haq

Pakistan has demanded the following from the Government of Bharat:

Full and timely communication of design information and data by India to Pakistan on new power-generation plants and irrigation works on western rivers. India claims that Delhi can build as many as run-of-the river hydro-power projects and needs to provide information six months before work begins. Pakistan disagrees and wants the dams to be stopped.

Bharats (aka India) has been unable to resolve any of her boundary disputes with any of her neighbors. Bharats norhtern border is in a state of constant hot and cold war with China. Her disputes with Bangaldesh pre-date the country. Her issues with Nepal are never ending. The Bharati attempt to bifurcate Sri Lanka were recently defeated when the RAW agent was killed. China, Pakistan and Lanka cooperated to defeat the designs of Delhi.

Bharat also has water disputes with Bangladesh at the Furrakha Barrage which infringes on the rights of the lower reparian (technical term to designate those living on the receiving end of the water).

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Water Wars: The impact of India stopping Pakistani water

Bharat after illegally occupying Kashmir using a fake article of accession which it now claims is lost 9as if it ever existed) has now built an illegal dam called Kishanganga dam on the Neelam river which eventually flows down to the Indus in Pakistan.

Delhi has provided data on the 33 hydro-power projects on western rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Indus (which belong on Pakistan).

Pakistan, with 2,053 cubic meters (m3) per person, ranks eighth in per capita fresh water withdrawals among the 130 countries listed in the 1995 World Development Report. Its water potential is exceeded only by the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. Pakistan depends on irrigation and water resources for 90 percent of its food and crop production (World Bank, 1992). The vast irrigation system in Pakistan is comprised of three major storage reservoirs, 19 barrages or head works, 43 main canals with a conveyance length of 57,000 kilometers, and 89,000 water courses with a running length of more than 1.65 million kilometers. This vast irrigation system feeds more than 40 million acres of irrigated land in Pakistan, a country with the highest irrigated and rain-fed land ratio in the world, 4:1.

Pakistanís impressive irrigation and water resource development has not been without environmental and resource degradation costs in all the ecosystems, i.e., mountains, plains, and the deltaic and coastal areas. According to Arif Hassan, two dams at Tarbella and Chashma reservoirs resulted in the siphoning off of 74 percent of Indus waters before reaching Kotri, the last barrage point on the Indus in the southern Sindh province. The deltaic area was reduced from 3,000 square kilometers (km2) to 250 km2 (Hassan, 1992). http://www.aaas.org/international/ehn/waterpop/paki.htm

Bharat claims that it has underutilized its rights — using water to irrigate just about 0.8 million acres as against the permissible limit of about 1.35 million acres. However this is not the true picture. The amount of arable land under cultivation is not an issue. The number of cosecs sent to Pakistan is the issue. Bharat floods Pakistani rivers at will and starves the parched land when it wants to. This is illegal and inhuman. Pakistan was facing acute shortage of water and according to the United Nations report, per capita water availability had come down from 5,500 cubic metres in 1950 to 1,000 cubic metres at present.

MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS FROM US EXPERTS:

CREATE A “BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL WATER POLICY”, WITHIN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S UNDER SECRETARY FOR DEMOCRACY AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS
APPOINT A “WATER AMBASSADOR” TO HEAD THE NEW OFFICE
EXPAND AND INCORPORATED EXISTING WATER POLICY PROGRAMS INTO THE NEW OFFICE
ESTABLISH A TRANSPARENT, BIPARTISAN, “WATER POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE,” WHOSE ROLE WOULD BE TO ADVISE U.S. INTERNATIONAL WATER ISSUES
FOUND A “WATER ADVISORY COUNCIL” TO COMMUNICATE SUGGESTIONS FROM NGOS, CORPORATIONS, ACADEMIA AND SCIENTIFIC ENTITIES.
GENERATE A STANDING FUND FOR WATER-RELATED ISSUES — UTILIZING BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SOURCES. by C.T. Pope, Circle of Blue ABOUT WATER CHALLENGES

Pakistan has taken some concrete steps to avoid water shortages. These include getting water and electricity from Tajikistan, and using existing resources more efficiently.

97% of water in Pakistan today is used in farming and a lot of it is wasted because of flood irrigation. A lot of farm water can be saved without hurting crop yields by using more efficient water irrigation techniques such as sprinklers or drip systems.A California study recently found that water use efficiency ranged from 60%-85% for surface irrigation to 70%-90% for sprinkler irrigation and 88%-90% for drip irrigation. Potential savings would be even higher if the technology switch were combined with more precise irrigation scheduling and a partial shift from lower-value, water-intensive crops to higher-value, more water-efficient crops.As a first step toward improving efficiency, Pakistan government has launched a 1.3 billion U.S. dollar drip irrigation program that could help reduce water waste over the next five years. Early results are encouraging. Riaz Haq

References

Hassan, Arif, June 30,1992. ìDeath of Indus Delta,î In Down to Earth. Nairobi, Kenya: RIOD.
IIMI (International Irrigation Management Institute), October 1995. Inception Report for Farmersí Participatory Irrigation Management Project. Colombo, Sri Lanka: IIMI.
IUCN (World Conservation Union), Pakistan. 1991. Korangi ecosystem project. Issue Paper No. 1. Geneva: IUCN.
IUCN, 1989. Water: Pakistan Fact Sheet. Geneva: IUCN.
Kirmani, S.S., 1992. Working Paper on Policy and Management Issues In Water Sector Investment Plan. Volume 1. Islamabad, Pakistan: Government of Pakistan.
Nizamani, Aijaz, December, 1995. ìBlazing a Trail,î In The Way Ahead. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
Government of Pakistan, 1992. Pakistan National Conservation Strategy, 1992. Islamabad, Pakistan: Government of Pakistan.
PAI (Population Action International) Population and Environment Program, 1993. Sustaining the Water. Washington, DC: Population Action International.
Postel, Sandra, May/June 1995. ìWhere have all the rivers gone?î World Watch. P. 9. Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute.
The World Bank, 1992. Irrigation Planning with Environmental Consideration. Technical Paper No. 166. Washington, DC: World Bank.
The World Bank, 1996. World Development Report. 1995. Washington, DC: World Bank.