The Indian delegate refused to provide the details of water flowage with Pakistan while Pakistan raised objections over the construction of 10 new hydropower projects by India at the annual meeting of the Permanent Commission on Indus Waters (PCIW) scheduled for March 1-3 in Islamabad.
India and Pakistan are two countries that share the same food, the same culture, and even the same waters and that’s where the problem lies. Water scarcity is fueling a complicated relationship between these two nuclear-armed rivals in recent years. These troubled waters have taken center stage and the water crisis characterized that blood and water cannot flow together.
This water conflict goes back to when India and Pakistan gained independence from British rule in 1947. Borders were drawn but the waters of the Indus Basin remained a divisive issue in 1960. The two countries signed the Indus Water Treaty forged by the World Bank.
According to the treaty, the Indus River and its five major tributaries come under two categories; the eastern and the western rivers. The eastern rivers of beasts Riley and Suckish were allocated to India while the western rivers of Jhelum, Chenab, and Indus were given to Pakistan while India restrict the flow of their waters.
Both sites expect that this was a fair and equitable distribution of water and the Indus Water Resources were enough for both of them. Terms altered but the treaty doesn’t suggest the water usage is exclusive to either country. India for instance, can use the water in the western rivers for non-consumptive requirements such as irrigation storage and electricity generation that’s fair because it does not allow any further control structures to interfere and store water beyond what just permits in its exceptions which are provided.
Despite fighting for wars, both sides honor the Indus Water Treaty but are this changed in the last three years? India’s fast-track hydropower projects worth fifteen billion dollars India held Kashmir where all the western rivers are flowing through. But critics in Pakistan accuse India of limiting the flow of water and data across the border.
It is very important that there should be a telemetry system so that both sides have online data and the truth prevails. Whenever we have talked to the Indian side about trail imagery, we didn’t get a sympathetic ear. Pakistan purses the projects and also criticizes India for delaying their expert inspections.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has even said that India held Kashmir can provide enough electricity to power the entire country. Pakistan is also heavily dependent on the waters for its agriculture-based economy. Prime Minister Imran Khan has even asked the Diaspora to donate towards the construction of dams, one of which falls in this region to cope with the country’s growing water.
India and Pakistan have more than tripled from 485 million in 1961 when the treaty was signed. To more than 1.5 billion in 2018 raising the demand for the waters, environmentalists say climate change could alter the situation, melting glaciers on the mountains of Tibet could influence the water supply. There are also concerns that the region could become increasingly prone to drought and the Indus could become a seasonal River by 2040 in the Ganges plain and in the South Asian region.
Now throwing light at the annual meeting of PCIW, a 10-member delegation, headed by the Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters, arrived in Pakistan via Wagah border on Monday to attend the annual PCIW meeting being organized by the office of Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters under obligations of the Indus Water Treaty-1960.
The Indian delegation crossed the Wagah border (Lahore) and proceeded to Islamabad. The delegation, headed by Indian Commissioner P.K. Saxena, includes three female officers,” a senior official of the office of Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters.
Besides objections already under discussion over 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydropower projects, Pakistan has also expressed concern over the construction of 10 hydroelectric power projects — Durbuk Shyok, Nimu Chilling, Kiru, Tamasha, Kalaroos-II, Baltikulan Small, Kargil Hunderman, Phagla, Kulan Ramwari, and Mandi.
Indian delegate’s refusal of providing the details of water flowing data from India to Pakistan and denial of India regarding the objections over the construction of controversial dams intensified the Indo-Pak Water negotiations leading to futile results.
Indian delegate adopted the stance defending its refusal that there’s not any amendment of sharing water flowage details with Pakistan in Sindh Tas Agreement. However, Indus Water Commissions agreed on another table round on May 31 the same year. According to sources, India will provide Pakistan with the details of controversial hydroelectric power projects in the next round.
The water tables have sunk the fastest perhaps now they have depleted the fastest anywhere in the world. Stress on water resources is death everywhere, especially in the sort of South Asian region. If the two sides cooperate amongst each other, then the better use of water and better preparedness for the impact of the water scarcity, climate change, and so on, and thus, the water’s availability can overcome the possibility of becoming an instrument of conflict.
