Inexcusable negligence of water rights

A press report has brought to light what can only be described as a case of criminal negligence involving this country's water rights. Pakistani officials slept on their jobs as India kept building hydropower projects in violation of the Indus Water Treaty, managing also to claim carbon credits from the UN for two disputed projects, Chutak and Nimoo-Bazgo, in contravention of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The ministries of Water and Power, and Environment, responsible for guarding Pakistan's interests in the matter, are now said to be trying to shift the blame to one another for failure to fulfil the responsibility of such a vital issue as water - the lifeblood of this country's agrarian economy.
According to the report, ever since this information first surfaced about nine months ago, and the Prime Minister ordered an inquiry into the issues it raised, the two ministries have been trying to shake off responsibility with the Water and Power officials saying that it was for the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency to conduct an environmental impact assessment, while the environment ministry argued that the two projects were of a strategic nature, and hence it could not have intervened unless asked for professional advice.
Sadly, it transpires that India grabbed the carbon credits from right under the nose of Pakistan. It happened when a Pakistani chaired the UNFCCC, the approving authority for such credits. The person representing the country, at the head of this important forum either did not care or was ignorant of the fact that his country had questioned the said projects in the Indus Water Commission, and let India get away with an undeserved award.
Equally sad is the fact that even after the Water and Power Ministry launched a probe into the lapse, no discernable effort was made to raise the issue with India. Needless to say, the time factor is crucial here. While the relevant ministries wasted time in finger pointing, India has continued to build these and some other hydropower projects on our rivers. They might want to present the same as a fait accompli, as some controversial aspects of the Baglihar dam proved to be, despite international arbitration.
It is important, therefore, that the government acts quickly to take to the UNFCCC the carbon credit issue for a review. Pakistan has a strong case considering that under the FCCC rules, such credit cannot be granted for a project that has cross-boundary environmental impact, without clearance from the concerned countries.
Even without the benefit of an expert assessment it is more than obvious that construction of the hydropower projects by India on Pakistan's share of the rivers will have devastating effect on its agrarian economy. Already water shortages are a source of increasing inter-provincial feuds. With the passage of time, water is going to get scarcer world-wide, and is likely to become a cause of future wars between nations. Islamabad must do all it takes to ensure our water security. First of all, it must hold to account all those responsible for the present debacle. Heads should roll.