Speakers urge national consensus to tackle deepening water crisis
LAHORE: Speakers at a conference urged national and inter-provincial consensus to tackle Pakistan’s deepening water crisis, saying Sindh’s concerns over sea intrusion, water shortages and threats to agriculture and livelihoods must be resolved through meaningful consultation and practical solutions.
The conference, titled “The Indus Waters Treaty and Pakistan’s National Security,” was organised by the University of Lahore’s Centre for Policy and Nation Building.
Speakers included Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro, Attorney General Mansoor Awan, former WAPDA chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (retd), former Punjab finance minister Mohsin Laghari, journalist Sohail Warraich and Board of Governors Chairman Awais Raoof.
Water disputes a “national challenge”
Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan described water disputes as a national challenge rather than a provincial disagreement, requiring collective effort, technical expertise and political consensus. He acknowledged that sea intrusion threatened farmland, settlements and livelihoods in Sindh, while Punjab also faced serious shortages, particularly in areas dependent on the Sutlej and on groundwater.
He said international agreements could not be unilaterally suspended or revoked without meeting legal requirements, citing the International Court of Justice’s ruling in the Hungary-Czechoslovakia water dispute, which held that changed political circumstances do not automatically invalidate such accords.
He also highlighted contaminated wastewater entering water channels, noting that hundreds of villages and millions of people in Sindh were affected by polluted groundwater, including arsenic contamination.
To check seawater intrusion, he proposed engineering interventions and WAPDA-led infrastructure, including measures adopted by Gulf countries.
The Speaker suggested inviting hydrologists and water experts to provincial assemblies and parliamentary committees and making historical documents and research accessible to policymakers. Referring to protests in Sindh over proposed canals and water diversion disputes in Indian Punjab, he said decisions must rest on comprehensive technical assessments. Pakistan, he added, should pursue peace, democracy and constitutionalism but would not compromise on sovereignty or water rights. “Pakistan is too big an idea to allow sub-nationalism to take precedence over nationalism,” he said.
‘Legal position on the treaty’
Attorney General Mansoor Awan said neither Pakistan nor India could unilaterally suspend, terminate or hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, as any change required mutual consent through a ratified agreement. He said the Court of Arbitration’s August ruling rejected India’s position, holding that its decision to place the treaty in abeyance had no legal effect on the treaty’s validity or ongoing proceedings.
Pakistan would continue pursuing legal remedies despite the difficulty of enforcing international decisions, he said, adding that the legal groundwork would strengthen its hand in future negotiations.
On water security, he noted that the Indus Basin accounts for about 95 percent of Pakistan’s available water, while agriculture consumes nearly 90 percent. He called for canal lining, prevention of water theft, rationalisation of water-intensive crops, appropriate pricing and inter-provincial consensus.
‘Sindh demands its share’
PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro stressed protecting the rights of lower riparian areas, saying Sindh must receive its legitimate share under the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord. Pakistan, as a lower riparian country relative to India, had consistently defended its rights under the treaty, he said, and the same principle must apply internally, where Sindh is the lower riparian province.
He argued that shortages should be shared equally among provinces rather than burdening Sindh, and called for a transparent assessment of actual water availability and strict implementation of the agreed formula.
Khuhro said adequate releases below Kotri Barrage were essential to prevent seawater intrusion. An understanding had envisaged downstream flows of about 10 million acre-feet, he recalled, yet even the minimum of five million acre-feet had not been ensured.
He clarified that Sindh was not opposed to dams, including Bhasha and Mohmand, but said infrastructure must not undermine provincial rights. He criticised delays in these projects and recalled Sindh’s opposition to the Kalabagh Dam and, particularly, the proposed canals. He urged the Attorney General to defend Sindh’s water rights domestically with the same determination shown against India, calling equitable distribution and honouring agreements essential for national unity.
‘Coastal Sindh “losing land and livelihoods”
Sindh Minister for Universities and Boards Muhammad Ismail Rahu warned that sea intrusion, shrinking freshwater supplies and environmental degradation threatened coastal communities, particularly in Thatta, Sujawal and Badin. According to various surveys, he said, between 2.2 million and over three million acres had been lost to the sea, forcing communities to abandon ancestral areas. Nearly 80 percent of Kharochan tehsil had already been submerged, he said, warning its settlements, wildlife, agriculture and fishing communities could vanish in coming years.
He identified insufficient freshwater below Kotri as the main cause, saying minimum environmental flows were not regularly maintained. Floods reaching the sea occur only every five, 10 or even 15 years and cannot substitute for regular flows, he said. The shortage had accelerated environmental degradation and climate-induced migration, damaging livestock, fisheries, forests and agriculture.
Rahu said the three districts were once leading sugarcane producers, with Badin known as the country’s “Cuba.” Mills once ran six to eight months, starting 15 days early and continuing up to 20 days past the official close. Now, crushing seasons often last under two months, and mills have begun importing cane from Punjab, once a destination for Sindh’s cane. Farmers have also cut Rabi crops due to inadequate water, he said, adding that the crisis now affects the entire rural economy, food production, industry and biodiversity.
‘Commissioner calls for rules-based management’
Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters Mehar Ali Shah called for a comprehensive, rules-based water management system, saying the treaty provides the framework for regulating shared waters. Long-term planning, he said, must assess resources, seasonal flows, consumption and the political economy of water, considering farmers, households, businesses and institutions. He noted that flows vary sharply between monsoon abundance and winter shortages, and stressed maintaining adequate delta flows.
Shah said the favourable ruling by the five-member Court of Arbitration had strengthened Pakistan’s diplomatic position, while international concerns had arisen over India’s unilateral move. Pakistan, he said, had sought an authoritative interpretation of treaty provisions on hydropower design to stop India manipulating downstream flows through storage projects, citing the lengthy Baglihar dispute process. India’s proposal to modify the treaty, he maintained, does not oblige Pakistan to negotiate or suspend the agreement, which remains operative unless mutually amended.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026