Water: An Important Source Of Life

Water is an important source of life on earth and about 71 percent of the surface of the earth is water. Almost 40 percent of the world population is directly at the mercy of fresh rivers water and about 2/3rd of these people live in developing countries. Water for all as a basic need can be defined as a public good and human right. This target dominates the entire world as a global water challenge. Water politics refers to the political strategy or diplomacy majorly affected by water availability and growing demand of water. When water is involved in the formulation of political policies for a particular country, and is used as a political weapon, it is known as water politics or hydro-politics (Nazakat, 2011).

“Hydro politics is the systematic study of conflict and cooperation between states over water resources that transcend international borders”(Elhance, 1999).

Water shortage has badly affected the agricultural sector of Pakistan which heavily depends on agro based economy. The agricultural lands of the Punjab and Sindh, mostly depend on canal water irrigation because in some areas underground water is salty. Present water crisis, if allowed to continue, would reduce the production of wheat, rice and sugarcane etc. Briefly water crisis in the country has spread deep concern. The shortage is threatening to create famine like condition across Pakistan (Ahmed, 2012).

1.2-Historical Background

On partition of India, Ravi, Sutlej, and Bias were allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty (1960) and the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan. Unfortunately, the hydrological Region from where these six rivers originate lie in occupied Kashmir under the forcible occupation of India. As such, the control of these rivers is in the hands of India because of the unjust partition of India. India has started politics in water and uses water as a weapon to further terrorist objectives. India has therefore acquired the capability to control water of Pakistan’s rivers namely, Chenab River, Jhelum River and the Indus River that originate in the Indian occupied Kashmir-a disputed territory. Pakistan faces great danger at the hands of India as it has built 32 large dams on these rivers creating dead storage of more than 10 MAF and live storage of about 38 MAF in violation of the IWT that only allows 4.19 MAF of water to India. Besides this, India is building another 9 major dams on these rivers (Kabbes, 2007).

India uses water as a weapon of mass destruction. In fact, it is terrorism using water as a weapon so that Pakistan is unable to produce food for its rapidly growing population. As a result, Pakistan will face famine, hunger, death and economic destruction. India has acquired the capability to use water as a weapon of mass destruction by causing famine and hunger. India has turned water terrorist an international crime. Water failures are prominent, both materially and politically, by international and subnational hydro politics. Within Pakistan there are many water issues like shortage of waterless crops cultivated which results in food crises and huge reserve be spent to overcome the problem and externally many issues rising like India stopped the supply of water to Pakistan from every canal flowing from India to Pakistan. The internal issues of Pakistan include the wrong planning of Kalabagh which created controversy on two counts, and there was status quo for 37 years as no dam was allowed to be built. This resulted in flood and the crippling load shedding destroying economy (Kabbes, 2007).

India cheated Pakistan on Indus Waters Treaty by depriving it of its perennial waters irrigating East Punjab of Pakistan. In replacement to the permanent water diverted by India, Pakistan, in return got storage water in Tarbela Dam Reservoir on the Indus, and Mangla Dam Reservoir on Jhelum River, both are Pakistan’s own rivers, allotted under the Treaty. Storage created on our rivers cannot be part of the deal. This means, Pakistan got nothing in return of the perennial water diverted by India irrigating East Punjab of Pakistan (Kabbes, 2007).

2.1-Hypothesis

Government lacks the resources and political will for the construction of small and big dams.

Indus Water Treaty discrepancies in the implementation of IWT are the main cause of water conflict in South Asia.

3.1-Research Questions

What is hydro politics?

What are the internal and external issues in water sector of Pakistan?

What are the factors behind the delay of construction of dams and reservoirs of Pakistan?

What is the Indus Water Treaty and its implications on hydro politics?

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• To gain an intellectual understanding of what hydro politics is about.

• To identify internal and external issues related to hydro politics in Pakistan.

• To identify the reasons behind the delay of construction of dams

4.1-Rationale

To analyze the factors behind the delay of construction of dams and the distribution of water within Pakistan

4.2-Statement Of The Problem

Hydro politics is an important factor and life without water is impossible. Population rate is rising day by day and we don’t have enough water nor do we have dams and reservoirs to store water so researcher has selected this issue to aware government who shall make such water policies which proved to be helpful in agricultural sector.

5.1-Research Methodology

The method during the research will be descriptive and analytical. Researcher will conduct both qualitative and quantitative method for research study. Both primary and secondary source of information will be used for the collection of data which would comprise of books, journals, articles and newspapers. Interviews will also be conducted and statistical method will be applied for testing of hypothesis.

6.1-Literature Review

Idris (2011) analyzes how the conflict of water distribution arose. Initially water distribution was through a system of canals without any control structures and withdrawal was governed by the level of water in the inundation canals which remained unpredictable. As demand of water usage of one actor grew, it consequently lead to conflict with the other actors. Steps in this regard were taken in the 19th century to control the unpredictable water supply and provide assured water supply in the inundation canals by constructing head works across rivers. The first head works was commissioned in 1859 by which supply on the Upper Bari Doab became assured followed by several other head works across tributary rivers in Punjab during 1882 to 1901 and two major irrigation projects by 1935 viz Sukkur Barrage on the Indus and the Sutlej Valley project. This article would help researcher to analyze how erratic water supply lead to inter-provincial as well as external water issues in Pakistan.

Mustafa (2010) explains that the official argument depicts the picture of a scarce water resource, which is being wasted by being allowed to flow out to sea , and outlines a doomsday scenario should additional storage not be built on the Indus River.However, water scarcity especially in the aftermath of the drought in southern Pakistan in the latter half of the 1990s, coupled with the single-minded focus of the Pakistani water bureaucracy on water development, has made the issue of the construction of Dams and reservoirs a substitute for a repeated series of inter-provincial grievances. The controversy is beginning to split public opinion in Pakistan, particularly in Sindh province, where more than 80 percent of the groundwater is saline, making the province’s farmers exceptionally dependent on surface-water supplies, which itself may be compromised by the construction of upstream dams and reservoirs. The dam project at the moment is in cold storage, particularly on account of the combined opposition of not just Sindh but also of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is concerned about the potential flooding of rich farmland and Pashtun cultural heartland by the lake that will be created behind the dam. The province is also unwilling to lend its support to the project because of doubts based on the poor record of the Pakistani government in providing for the recovery of those affected by earlier large-dam projects. This article would help the researcher in evaluating that the methodology behind the construction of dams and reservoirs was consequent to bring about delays because it did not include all stakeholders and unsettled negotiating process.

Akhtar (n.d.) explains that that the Indus Water Treaty was devised to find a solution that was not driven by legal principles, but instead by principles of water engineering and economics. IWT was signed as a permanent solution to the water sharing problem between the two countries when water was in abundance in the Indus system. This Treaty governs trans boundary water rights and obligations of India and Pakistan in relation to each other by assigning full use of waters of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers to Pakistan, with minor exceptions, for existing uses in Kashmir giving Pakistan 75 per cent of the waters of the Indus Basin system and allowed India, under carefully specified conditions, to tap the considerable hydropower potential of the three Western rivers, before they entered Pakistan. The heightened climate changes underway, growing water scarcity and insecurity in the basin has resulted in politicization of the water issue between the two countries coinciding with India’s ambition to construct a large number of hydropower plants, especially on the Chenab and Jhelum rivers. This article will help the researcher to access the Indus Water Treaty and the implications of hydro politics on it.

Pakistan’s Waters at Risk (2007) in this report it has been discussed rapid population growth, urbanization and unmanageable water consumption practices to have placed an huge stress on the quality as well as the quantity of water resources in the country which have led to hydro politics in the region. With regard to growing tensions, there is an urgent need to develop policies and approaches for bringing water withdrawals into balance with recharge. Though relevant policies like National Environment Policy, National Water Policy (Draft), National Drinking Water Policy (Draft), National Environment Policy; regulatory framework like the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 and laws like the Canal and Drainage Act (1873) and the Punjab Minor Canals Act (1905), which prohibit the corrupting or fouling of canal water; Sindh Fisheries Ordinance (1980), which prohibits the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial waste into water, and The Greater Lahore Water Supply Sewerage and Drainage Ordinance (1967) etc. are in place, there is no clear strategy devised so far to implement them. This report helped in guiding the researcher to know how hydro politics plays a crucial role in shaping national/international water policies.

Turton and Henwood (2002) explain the concept and limitation of hydro politics in developing countries. They assert in the book that hydro politics is emerging as a specific discipline, largely as a result of the increased awareness of water scarcity and erratic supply due to rapid population growth, urbanization and unsustainable water consumption practices. For these reasons, a greater focus on the development of conceptual clarity has become essential. The realization of the fact that life is impossible without water is the fundamental driving force behind hydro politics. As more and more people compete for and rely on the declining water resources, it has become a challenge for the environment and therefore a political issue. This book would help researcher to analyze the concept of hydro politics and the factors inflicting its importance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title

Chapter-1 :

Introduction

Historical Background

Chapter-2:

– Hypothesis

Chapter-3:

– Research Questions

Chapter-4

– Rationale

– Statement of the problem

Chapter-5:

Research methodology

Chapter-7:

-Literature review

Chapter-8:

-Conclusion.