Lower Riparians' Water Woes: A festering issue in Pakistan

-

 




 
 
 
John F. Kennedy rightly said, "Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes – one for peace and one for science.”Above alarming headlines suggest that water management is what Pakistan direly needs to address to promote National integration that is the backbone of Pakistani ideology.   
The repeated pattern of woes each year underscores the level of mismanagement that is responsible for the plight of people. A common practice by politicians of Pakistan is that raise the issue aggressively, make people realize that concrete steps are taken to mitigate the issue by formation of a investigation committee, get recommendations and never act. Sadly, issue as vital as water crisis is also dealt in such a way...

A committee formed....

        New government formed a joint committee of Parliamentarians and technical experts in May'22 to investigate into the matter of water theft, measurement and other possible causes of water issues between Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. The committee worked in tandem with a team of Sindh government led by Minister for Irrigation.

 Accusations of water theft by farmers disrupting the share of downstream areas are not new, as is evident from below excerpt from 2013...
 

The report went on to say...
        
            Now, in the backdrop of this old issue the committee (shocked by losses of about 30,000 cusecs in between Taunsa and Guddu Barrages) investigated the issue anew.
 
The report of committee is a surprise....
 

So, the report basically stated that:

  1.  What they observed was definitely a violation of allotted share but no one to be blamed as Punjab irrigation department released the required 69,000 Cusecs flow.
  2. Theft but technically not a theft and, hence, cannot be acted upon.

By these two points the report leaves this issue in a stalemate.

Report ends by:

  1. Zahid Junejo, Chairman IRSA/ Member Sindh, accusing the water regulator of failing to give due share of water to Sindh. 
  2. The provincial government having conveyed its concerns at the highest level and hoping that the province would be given fair treatment. 

The end to latest efforts.....

What needs to be done?

As discussed issues such as these are threat to the federation and have disturbed the provincial harmony and national integration. They require sincere resolution efforts which are way beyond tall claims, clueless committee reports, raising concerns and accusations. There is a need to better utilize constitution empowered existing institutions like CCI and
IRSA. New rules should be established for the water management among provinces. 
 
So far ground water is neither taxed nor regulated. Urgently needed step is a need to regulate the ground water usage for irrigation and other purposes. Responsible authority to manage ground water is need of hour as leaving it to whims of people may have disastrous impacts as seen in discussed issue. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Detailed Corona: How to prevent ourselves without unnecessarily benefiting supply mafias

-
Image
This blog contains information taken from doctors, health journals, news and websites related to Covid-19. From the making of biggest hospital in Sindh, quickest and smart hospital in Wuhan, complete lock-downs in China, Italy, Spain and others to “GO CORONA” slogans by Indian minister and his crowd everyone is working in a bid to slow down and eliminate corona virus. Quarantine and isolation building at Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan. Many (like me) would want to prevent Corona not only due to illness it causes but to avoid problems that society poses for people with such symptoms to face in this pandemic; Like coughing, sneezing or cleaning your nose etc in public is now like a taboo or at the least we become victim of ridicule by our friends. So we should prevent getting cold or flu more than ever. Prevention: No handshakes. Washing hands after coughing or sneezing, visiting sick, before, during and after cooking food and returning home from work place or ...
Read more

Surah Hujrat: Directions for man to live in society

-
Image
Quran contains guidance about everything Surah- Al Hujrat is 49th surah of Quran. It was revealed to Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) on 9th A.H in Madinah. It contains most essential instructions for amicable society. It has 2 rukkus which contain instructions about the respect of Holy prophet (P.B.U.H), gives directions to Muslims about social and moral values of society and forbids the actions that might create the friction among people and destroy amicable society. Directions about apt behavior with Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H):  In 9th A.H many delegations came from different areas to accept Islam. Those included some uncouth tribes who would not follow general traditions such as sending someone to inquire about Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) or wait for him outside but would call Prophet (P.B.U.H) by name and roam around house of Azwaj-e-Mutahirat which would disturb Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) and as he would not complain directly Allah laid down general rules in respect of Holy Prophet (P....
Read more

Reko Diq: Another financial worry?

-
Image
Reko diq, on remains of volacano where a controversial mining project erupts every now and then;  giving us financial fret It was highly likely that the judgement of the tribunal in the Reko Diq case would go against Pakistan, especially when presiding tribunal had already judged that Pakistan has violated several of clauses in its treaty with Australia (TCC is originally incorporated there). Now, penalty has been slapped on Pakistan which furthers our financial worries. Decision is right or wrong but we have to blame our system at least for some part. A thought must be given how our system of awarding contracts works.  The awarding of projects, leases, tenders and contracts in Pakistan have been problematic and recent Reko Diq case has shown what major loss, the errors in awarding can cause. The problem is that in most, if not all, cases the three parties are involved politicians, bureaucrats and businessman (applicant). Bureaucrats are on same side with or are manipul...
Read more