Judicious utilisation of water: civil society urged to convince provinces

Pakistan Institute of Legislative & Transparency (PILDAT) has urged the civil society to play its role in pursuing the provinces for judicious utilisation of water, as successive attempts of different federal governments have failed to bear desired fruits till date.
Speakers of the roundtable discussion said they have stated the facts relating to the water issues in Pakistan plainly to the media and it is now the duty of the civil society to come forward and pursue the provinces for consensus on major water decisions.
PILDAT on Friday organised a roundtable discussion on inter-provincial water issues in Pakistan at a local hotel, which was addressed by water experts from four provinces. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director PILDAT, moderated the discussion, chaired by Malik Muhammad Abbas Raan, Chairperson Standing Committee on Irrigation & Power, provincial assembly of Punjab.
In his welcome address, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob said the present economic crisis in the country is being driven by energy and water crisis. He said a little is being done to resolve these issues by the federation due to strong differences among federating units. Secondly, he said, last year floods have hit Pakistan hard and serious questions are being raised on efficient water management by Pakistan.
Mehboob said that PILDAT has already organised sittings with provincial representatives and parliamentarians in the capital. In the second round, he said media interactions are initiated by PILDAT and would also be carried to Karachi. He presented the viewpoint of water expert from Sindh Idrees Rajput as he could not attend the roundtable due to the flight disturbance in the country.
Rajput's viewpoint was that the inter-provincial water issues could not be resolved through judicial and administrative measures but only through dialogue. He appreciated the democratic set-up in Pakistan by saying that Water Apportionment Accord 1991 was signed in the presence of a democratic govt. "India can not have any such consensus yet," he said adding "We are lucky but we have failed to move forward."
He said that Sindhis are against construction of any dam on Indus River. They are very sensitive to the issue and take supporters of any dam on Indus River as traitors. According to him, there is no excessive water in the Indus River. Instead, there is a water deficit of seven Million-Acre Feet (MAF) on ground. Rajput stressed that 1991 Water Accord should be followed in water distribution among provinces, as Sindh objects the exemption extended to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan during water scarcity.
Muhammad Amin, Member Indus River System Authority (Irsa) from Balochistan was very aggressive in his comments on water issues. He said Balochistan has serious issues with Sindh on the Hub Dam distribution issue besides Right Bank Out-Fall (RBOF) issue. He said total allocation of water for Balochistan is 3.87MAF against its utilisation of 2.51MAF utilisation. The remaining water is being used by Sindh and Punjab, he added.
According to him, there was a unanimous decision in 2000 that Balochistan will not share water shortage, therefore, no one should object to it. He further said Balochistan objects the procedure laid down for water availability and demands immediate correction of it. He said the total water losses during Kharif have jumped to 20 percent against five percent earlier. These losses have increased due to the fact that major provinces are mis-reporting their water utilisation to Irsa, he maintained.
Amin pointed out that the Kacha area irrigation has also increased heavily during last one decade; 17MAF water is being utilised unaccounted for by major provinces. Rao Irshad Ali Khan, Chairman Irsa and representative from Punjab spoke at length on Indus Water Treaty 1960 and Water Apportionment Accord 1991. Rao said the province of Sindh has been apprehending on water distribution since 1930. Chashman Jhelum and Trimu Panjnad link canals are important to keep Punjab irrigated out of Indus River. He said the CJ link canal transfers eight MAF and TP transfers three MAF. According to him, out of 54MAF total water share of Punjab, 31MAF is availed from Mangla Dam and the rest from Indus through link canals.
He said that representation of Punjab in Irsa is 20 percent against 40 percent of Sindh, therefore Sindh's criticism against Punjab is unfair. Furthermore, Sindh has never taken the issue to the Council of Common Interest till date.
Chairman Irsa said additional reservoirs are needed to increase water share of provinces and move the country forward. But, he said, Sindh is not to increase usage of water to 114MAF from existing 103MAF but wants to increase its percentage in total usage of water. He lamented that the four provinces distributed water utilisation under Water Apportionment Accord 1991 but they are not developing new reservoirs. "How additional water can be ensured in such a situation," he questioned.
He lamented that construction of Kala Bagh Dam was politicised. He said that 'it is not Punjab but Wapda that suggested construction of KBD'. It is an irony that we have consensus on water distribution but carrying differences on dams, he remarked. He said the present floods had brought 151MAF water to the country against a history of 170MAF. He pointed out that earlier construction of reservoirs might ensure cheaper electricity for the country.
Leading water expert from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shams-ul-Mulk advocated for KBD. He said that World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Planning Commission, Wapda and India could see excessive water in the Indus River but not the province of Sindh. According to him, there can be alternative to KBD for every province except KP and the political forces opposing it in KP are not sincere to Pakistan.
He pointed out that undue delay in construction of KBD is costing us billions of rupees in fuel generation and the electricity consumers in Punjab have paid equivalent to three KBDs in the shape of power tariff. Therefore, the civil society should stand up and media should project real state of affairs by exposing the vested interest elements. Mulk said the civil society should come forward in favour of KBD is government was not ready to lead from the front.
Chief guest, Malik Muhammad Abbas Ran said water has become an important requirement world over and dialogue should be extended to leading politicians of the country. He urged the countrymen to 'discourage provincialism and think like a Pakistani on KBD'.