| Water
Crisis: Special Report
Water scarcity; reasons, ramifications, remedies
By Engr. Naseer Memon
The ongoing water shortage has jolted the very foundations of the
national economy on the one hand and has eroded faith in the decision-making capacity of our institutions on the other.
There is a little doubt that the situation is mainly because of
natural weather patterns, which have incidentally turned adverse to
us. However, many also subscribe to the opinion that the situation has
been worsened by non-natural elements. Actors ranging from individual
citizens to State-run organizations have failed to respond to the
situation in a rational mode. There is no dichotomy of opinion that
the persistent drought is neither the first nor the last. The country
has experienced it before and would certainly experience it again,
probably more frequently. The question, which needs to be deliberated
more seriously is that whether we have learnt any lesson from the past
experience and are we trying to learn any this time? The answer is a
big "No".
Pakistan's economy being an agricultural one, has sustained an
irremediable damage as a ramification of the water shortage. If a fair
account of the state of affairs is taken, more terrible damages come
to surface. Let us have a brief peep into it.
Institutional breakdown: The country has a water accord, arbitrarily
imposed on March 16, 1991 (at least people/experts of Sindh never
ratified it). Keeping aside the debate on its legitimacy, it is sadly
noticed that even that accord was rendered null and void by the Indus
River System Authority (IRSA), which was supposed to be its custodian. It is worth mentioning that the IRSA itself is an offshoot
of the accord, established under its clause 13, and has, therefore, no
moral legitimacy to operate outside the domain of the accord.
The IRSA is supposed to be an institution to resolve the water
distribution issue amicably as per well-defined set of rules under the
IRSA Act of 1992. However, it has badly failed to deliver the desired;
rather it has aggravated the situation through arbitrary and unjust
decisions. It is beyond comprehension that three provinces have been
continuously demanding water distribution according to the 1991 accord
but one province, whose representative happens to be the chairman of
the authority, has refused to comply with this legitimate demand
(ac cording to Clause 8[2] of the IRSA Act, 1992, the chairman of the
IRSA is bound to take decision in accordance with the majority vote)
and has insisted upon the so-called ministerial arrangement, which has
no legal standing.
The ministerial arrangement was made on May 2, 1994 under which the
average use of the Indus during 1977-82 was taken as a benchmark and
distribution between Sindh and the Punjab was done accordingly. The
arrangement was purely on a temporary basis for that particular kharif
season and had no legal bearing. The same fact was acknowledged by the
then special secretary to the ministry of water and power, Kazi
Asif, in his letter to the IRSA chairman, dated May 19, 1994. In his letter
Mr. Asif mentioned that the inter-provincial ministerial committee was
a mere co-ordination body and had no legal mandate for taking any
decisions. Yet, the present chairman of the IRSA remained stuck to his
stand regarding water distribution under the same arrangement. If the
IRSA has to follow any arrangement other than the water accord of 1991
the very accord stands nullified and so the IRSA itself. No provision
of the IRSA Act justifies the way the IRSA has operated in recent
days. It was nothing but a sheer violation and mockery of the laws of
the land.
The water distribution set-up currently in vogue is clearly aimed at
benefiting just one province as confirmed by the proceedings of the
press conference held by the IRSA secretary, Mr. Sohail Ali Khan, in
Islamabad on February 22, 2001. According to press reports, he stated
at the press conference that the water share of Sindh would rise by 18
per cent and that of the Punjab would be curtailed by 8 per cent if
water distribution was done under the water accord of 1991. This
substantiates the argument that the IRSA has acted in an unfair,
partisan and unjust manner and has, accordingly, failed to maintain
its impartiality.
The IRSA was made redundant earlier during the tenure of the former
prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, when it was disbanded without any
justification. The present government tried to redress the loss
through the revival of the IRSA followed by shifting of its headquarter from Lahore to Islamabad and enhancing the representation
of Sindh by nominating the federal government representative from the
province. But the latest episode has brought to light the grim fact
that the IRSA, as an institution, has become hostage to some powerful
string-pullers.
Credibility of the federation and failure of governance systems: After
the failure of the IRSA surfaced, it was expected that the government
would intervene to safeguard the credibility of the federation and put
the things back on the track. All the steps of the IRSA were clearly
in sheer departure from the very spirit of the federation. Disputes
over national resources need to be addressed at the higher decision-making levels if not resolved by the concerned
authorities. In the absence of the Council of Common Interests, Sindh
province at one stage referred the matter to the Chief Executive
(according to some newspaper reports).
However, response is not in sight as yet. According to recent reports, water is being stored in
Mangla Dam reservoir and its level has risen by about 30 ft over the
last few days. Mangla receives inflow from the Jehlum river, which is
an early riser like other eastern rivers. The matter crops up each
water-scarce year as Sindh has an early kharif sowing as compared to
Punjab. The Indus is a late riser; therefore, Sindh as a part of the
federation deserves early inflow from Mangla. But the same is stored
for the following kharif in Punjab province. This year the situation
is even more demanding in this regard. Though the issue needs a
serious and rational consideration the federal government never came
forward to safeguard the interests of Sindh in this particular case.
Sindh has also been demanding that Punjab has an advantage of having
80 per cent fresh subsoil aquifer containing over 46 maf water. Since
the aquifers get recharged from the surface water sources the same
should be treated as a part of the national resource and not exclusively for one province. If after selling out its eastern waters
to India, the Punjab could draw water from the Indus as a national
resource, why not the fresh groundwater is treated in the same manner?
If all other national resources are pooled into a single source, why
not the groundwater?
Loss of agriculture/livelihood/national economy: According to the
estimates of the federal government, the agriculture sector would
suffer a loss of about Rs. 90 billion owing to the unrelenting
drought. Since the sector has remained a major source of shoring-up
the crippled national economy, it has a vital role to play
particularly in terms of food security and employment of the ever-burgeoning population of the country. As a contributor of around
25 per cent to the GNP, the adverse effects of water shortage on
agriculture would have a spiralling effect on the prevailing level of
poverty.
However, agricultural losses owing to water shortage are unevenly
distributed. There exist marked disparities among the two major
producer provinces, i. e. Punjab and Sindh, in respect of area sown
and production of major crops. The tables given in this article are
taken from the working papers (F1-1/2001-FCA/2nd March 2001) of the
74th meeting of the Federal Committee of Agriculture (FCA) held in
Islamabad on March 31, 2001. The meeting was presided over by Mr. Khair Muhammad Junejo, federal minister for agriculture and
livestock and was attended by the ministers and secretaries of the
provincial departments of agriculture and livestock. Data presented in
the working papers, as evident from the tables, indicates striking
disparities of agricultural losses of the two provinces.
* Punjab has brought 4.1 per cent more area under wheat than the
target fixed for this crop. Area under wheat cultivation in the
province registered an increase of 2.4 per cent over the last year
also. Sindh on the other hand has sown wheat on an area which is 28.68
per cent less than the target.
* Punjab has sown cotton over an area which is 3.7 per cent more than
the target while area under cotton in Sindh is 17 per cent less than
the target.
* Situation in case of rice is even more vivid. It may be recalled
that Sindh province has put an unofficial ban-like restriction on rice
being a high-delta crop. Whereas the same has been sown and produced
in excess in the Punjab province.
* Punjab has sown 32.06 per cent more area with Irri rice and,
according to the second estimates, has produced 19.4 per cent more
than the target. Whereas Sindh is at a loss of 23.52 per cent and
23.26 per cent respectively in terms of area and production of
Irri.
*
Punjab has brought 112.76 per cent more land than the target in
respect of other varieties. Whereas Sindh in this category has sown
50.83 per cent less area and produced 15 per cent less than the
target.
* In overall terms, Punjab has exceeded the target by around 9 per
cent and 8.5 per cent in respect of area sown and production respectively. Sindh is at a loss of 23.29 per cent and 22.80 per cent
respectively.
TABLE
The results are astonishing. One wonders if the country was reeling
under such an excruciating water scarcity how this enormous difference
became possible.
Integrated solutions: It is evident that fresh water scarcity could
not be faced through stand-alone solutions. It is apprehended that
changing weather patterns might have induced frequent droughts in
certain parts of the globe. Therefore, the issue should be tackled
through multifarious efforts. We need to adopt methodology of integrated solutions through systems-thinking approach.
Dynamics of
water conservation is indeed complex and needs a highly efficient
institutional framework supported by an encouraging response from all
sorts of water users. Pack of solutions would encompass political,
social, institutional and technical dimensions.
Some of the recommendations are here for the consideration of the
policy-makers and for a debate on a national level.
* Sanctity of the Water Accord of 1991 should immediately be restored. Clear directives should be issued to the IRSA to adhere to
the accord strictly. All temporary arrangements of the past should
stand overridden by the accord. It is important not only for the fair
distribution of water but its political imperatives are equally
important for the restoration of the lost trust in the decision-making
institutions of the country.
* All the fresh water resources of the country should be treated as a
single entity and distributed under the need-based arrangement. Hence,
Sindh should be provided with right over the waters of Mangla for
early kharif within its apportionment under the accord.
* As agreed under the accord, a comprehensive study should be conducted to determine the minimum flow below Kotri barrage. The
established quantum of water should be ensured for conservation of
life in the Indus delta.
* The recent drought has reiterated the fact that the Indus river
system can't afford any large dam over it. Therefore, the proposed
Kalabagh Dam should be formally abandoned for future plans.
* Sites for small carry-over dams should be developed to store surplus
flows during floods. No storage should be permitted during normal or
scarce flows.
* A crash programme should be launched for lining of channels particularly water courses to prevent huge water losses.
* Extension services should be made efficient to educate farmers for
better management of land and water resources. In particular, optimum
water use and land levelling techniques should be imparted to the
farming community for better irrigation practices. NGOs, farmers
organizations and professional organizations like International Water
Management Institute (IWMI) should be engaged for better results.
* New crops and varieties of the existing crops should be introduced,
which could be grown with less water.
* Reforms in irrigation departments under the National Drainage
Programme (NDP) should be expedited to ensure system decentralisation
and farmers participation in water management.
* Option of the saline irrigation should be given a serious thought. Varieties of certain vegetables and fodder are possible to
grow with certain degree of salt tolerance. Moderately saline drainage
effluent and domestic sewage could be utilised for the purpose. Model
farms should be established to encourage the concept.
* Natural fresh water lakes should be conserved to develop local water
resources. In Sindh, Manchar, Hamal, Kinjhar and Haleji lakes are
worst affected as regards environmental degradation and local populations are deprived of precious fresh water resources.
* Fresh water bodies should not be used as dumping sites of solid and
liquid waste. Release of saline effluent in fresh water bodies should
be strictly prohibited.
* A public education and information programme should be launched to
influence the attitude of the people towards water as a diminishing
natural resource. Media, NGOs and academia should be engaged in these
endeavours. People should be sensitised for rational and sustainable
use of water resources in every sphere of life.
* Fresh water should not be used for other than drinking purpose. Several other personal, domestic and civic uses could be met
through non-potable water. It needs development of urban water supply
infrastructure on modern lines. System losses in urban water supply
network should also be minimised through better maintenance and
management of the system.
* Groundwater extraction should be regularised through legislation and
effective implementation of the same.
* Groundwater contamination should be prevented to the maximum
possible level.
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