Irsa Accord: A dam problem

Pakistan seems to have lost its title of a "water management" country. The currently functional Water Accord of 1991 appears to have fallen short of achieving its goal of equitable allocation of existing and future water amongst provinces. Ambiguities around the accord have given rise to inter-provincial mistrust, especially in times of shortages. These include the debate over the "initial condition" and the reason for the exemption of KP and Baluchistan from sharing shortages under the currently functional three-tier scenario of 2003. In addition to these ambiguities, the possibility of water flow forecast manipulation by the provinces and the inability of Irsa to monitor water flows undermine trust in the regulatory body. Water theft by the provinces is increasing as unauthorised abstractions have been growing rapidly. Even though a telemetric system was installed by Wapda in 2003, it has not been successful in proper monitoring of data. Increasing reliance on ground water is raising equity concerns owing to the different levels of ground water in each province. The current Accord doesn take into account any ground water abstractions. Even though Irsa was originally envisaged to act as an independent body, its lack of funding has resulted in increased dependency on the provinces for data. On the bright side, however, Irsa is expected to receive a certain percentage of hydro electricity revenues from next year to strengthen its financial basis. Irsas recent step to put up daily water flow data is commendable but needs to be more comprehensive. The provinces need to look to Punjab as a model and put key data online to ensure easy access to all. These steps will lead to increased transparency in the system that will reduce mistrust between stakeholders, leading to a reduction in water insecurity. Any new formulation of the accord should account for ground water as well. The protection of the environment has been mandated to the provinces under the 18th Amendment and any new deal should hold the provinces accountable to this end. For greater efficiency, it must install telemetric stations and train the staff for continuous data collection and monitoring flow measurements. This would ensure the inclusion of illegal abstractions into the allocation and management system. According to Shakeel Durrani, present chairman Wapda, water shortage is due to improper utilisation. "To stop wastage, we need to charge for its usage," In a recent South Asia Initiative (SAI) Conference at LUMS, he emphasised the need for adequate storage, confirming that "we have, among other projects, started working on the Jahangir-Bhasha Dam". Former Finance Minister, Sartaj Aziz stressed the need for action at the provincial level. "The water accord and the system created by it was a limited agenda. The other sources of water management at the provincial level have to be developed." He pointed out that undue responsibilities have been handed over to Irsa and there should be separate agencies to deal with auxiliary issues. It is imperative to realise that the glass is half full for Pakistan because it has an accord that has worked reasonably well despite the noise; it could work a lot better if proper, yet simple, steps are taken to ensure its implementation. The policy makers need to come together and realise the need for cooperation before we engage in a "water war".