Indus Water Treaty

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Peregrine
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Indus Water Treaty

Post by Peregrine »

X Posted on the Terroristan Thread

Dam confusion

The murky matter of dam building just got murkier. There is no disagreement that Pakistan is years deep into a rolling water crisis. This is multi-faceted. The entire Indus river system on which Pakistan is dependent is undergoing change, not an unusual event in historical terms but not exactly predictable either. Global warming is affecting precipitation — snow and rain — over the mountains to the north of the country and water, its conservation and management, are high on the agenda. Unfortunately the agenda for decades has been dominated by disagreements about the building of large dams both for storage and power generation a consequence of which being that Pakistan is marching steadfastly towards a water-poor future.

Big dams cost billions of dollars and are slow to build. Simply, there is no quick way to build a structure such as this. Even if everything goes to plan — and it almost never does — three to five years as a minimum and more likely longer to get a major dam operational. It is thus puzzling to find the judiciary entering the fray in respect of dams, and whilst we have nothing but the greatest of respect for the judiciary who do a sterling job, it is curious to find them throwing themselves in at the deep end of the dam debate.

The Supreme Court has told the government to immediately start work on the Diamer-Basha and the Mohmand dams. The SC was hearing a petition regarding another controversial dam project — the Kalabagh — and the Chief Justice (CJ) pointed out to those present in the court, including a range of government officials, that the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and everybody else were agreed on the need for the two dams, and then went on to make a surprising appeal to the general public for contributions to a fund that would be administered by the SC to help underwrite their building. The SC was acting with the best of intentions, but by no stretch of imagination is dam construction and funding under the purview of the judiciary. A rethink as to dams, judicial intervention therein, may be the wisest way forward.

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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by Falijee »

X POSTED FROM TERRORISTAN

What Will Happen To This "White Elephant" Dam Now !

Alarming stage as Tarbela Dam touches dead level for first time in Pakistan’s history
ISLAMABAD – The water situation in Pakistan has aggravated to the very alarming situation after the water level at Tarbela Dam touched its dead level during monsoon season in July, for the first time in country’s history.The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) officials said that they never observed this critical stage during the rainy season.IRSA spokesperson Khalid Rana, talking to a leading English daily, said that the major reason behind this dangerous situation is no good rainfall in the catchment areas of the dam during last monsoon spell.
No official announcement yet "blaming India for this disaster" :D
The water level in the Tarbela Dam was recorded at 1386 feet while its dead level is 1530 feet. Water inflow in the Dam stood at 151,000 cusecs while outflow 123,000 cusecs.At Chashma point, the water inflow was recorded at 187,900 cusecs while storage stood at 181,000 acrefeet.Meanwhile, the water storage level in the dam was 1,122 feet against its dead level of 1,050 feet but it has also started depleting.
However, talking about overall water storage in the country, Rana said, last year in July at this time water storage level was 7 million acres feet (MAF) but this year it stands at 0.8 to one million acres feet (MAF), he said, adding that coming monsoon spell may help country to overcome the shortage.
Hope is "always" eternal. And then there is always the available "standard excuse" of blaming India :twisted:
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by Prem »

SSridhar
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Diamar-Basha Dam

Post by SSridhar »

Indus dam work creates national fervour in Pakistan - Manu Pubby, ToI
The Pakistani Army and other establishments are rallying behind a controversial dam project on the Indus River in disputed territory that has taken on new wind after India's frustration on attempts by Islamabad to get international funding for years. The issue is set to snowball into a controversy with India opposing the project as it falls in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Potential water wars between the two nations are a reality, with tensions flaring up after the 2016 Uri attack that left 19 soldiers dead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been vocal on water-sharing pacts between the nations and had famously told a review meeting of the Indus Waters Treaty in 2016 after the Uri attack that “rakt aur paani ek saath nahin beh sakta” (blood and water cannot flow together).

Pakistan Chief Justice Saqib Nisar who ordered the setting up of a public fund for the project, linked raising money for the dam to the 1965 war with India, personally initiating it with a (Pakistani) Rs 1 million donation. “The passion that was seen during the 1965 war would be visible again for the construction of dams,” he said. The 4500 MW Diamer-Bhasha Dam is planned in PoK’s Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistani Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has pledged a month’s salary to the fund that has reached Rs 50 million within days. Besides the Army and Supreme Court employees, several prominent personalities like former cricketer Shahid Afridi as well as private institutions have pledged funds for the dam. Officers of the Pakistani armed forces are donating two days’ pay while soldiers have been mandated to donate one day’s pay for the project that is being touted as the solution to its water scarcity problems.

Several government controlled institutions have made similar pledges, while appeals are also being made to overseas Pakistanis to donate money for the dam. Others include acting President Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani and the Habib Bank. While the fund is still away from the estimated Rs 1.6 trillion needed for the dam
, India is watching the matter closely, as it claims the Gilgit-Baltistan area has been successfully lobbying for years against any form of international funding for the mammoth project.

Pakistan has been trying unsuccessfully for years to raise funds from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank but facing frustration after the bodies stated that it was on disputed territory. A more recent attempt to bring it under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also did not go through after Beijing put up an ownership rights clause on the mega project.
The basic question is: OK, all this funding fervour is all right, but the construction of this huge dam needs dollah, plenty of dollah in fact. Pakistan currency is not even worth the paper it is printed on. So, where are they going to get the dollah from?

My theory therefore: this 'funding fervour' is another huge scam!!
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by ArjunPandit »

^^^why dollah?? they have all the labour and technology on earth.
SSridhar
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by SSridhar »

The Djinns could spread a net and catch all the bombs falling down from IAF bombers, as it happened in 1965. But, the net cannot hold the water !
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Re: Diamar-Basha Dam

Post by RCase »

SSridhar wrote:Indus dam work creates national fervour in Pakistan - Manu Pubby, ToI
...
Pakistani Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has pledged a month’s salary to the fund that has reached Rs 50 million within days. Besides the Army and Supreme Court employees, several prominent personalities like former cricketer Shahid Afridi as well as private institutions have pledged funds for the dam. Officers of the Pakistani armed forces are donating two days’ pay while soldiers have been mandated to donate one day’s pay for the project that is being touted as the solution to its water scarcity problems.

Several government controlled institutions have made similar pledges, while appeals are also being made to overseas Pakistanis to donate money for the dam. Others include acting President Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani and the Habib Bank. While the fund is still away from the estimated Rs 1.6 trillion needed for the dam
, India is watching the matter closely, as it claims the Gilgit-Baltistan area has been successfully lobbying for years against any form of international funding for the mammoth project.
...
The basic question is: OK, all this funding fervour is all right, but the construction of this huge dam needs dollah, plenty of dollah in fact. Pakistan currency is not even worth the paper it is printed on. So, where are they going to get the dollah from?

My theory therefore: this 'funding fervour' is another huge scam!!
Big difference between Pledge and Donate. A bombastic Pakistani's words are absolutely worthless. Absolute scam by the big wigs to just pledge but not intend to carry through with their pledge.
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Re: Diamar-Basha Dam

Post by nachiket »

SSridhar wrote: The basic question is: OK, all this funding fervour is all right, but the construction of this huge dam needs dollah, plenty of dollah in fact. Pakistan currency is not even worth the paper it is printed on. So, where are they going to get the dollah from?

My theory therefore: this 'funding fervour' is another huge scam!!
Forget dollahs they aren't going to collect even a fraction of the paki rupee value of the dam build cost. This guy in Dawn has presented the figures which show how ridiculous this whole exercise is: https://www.d a w n.com/news/1419554
Now let’s do some math on this. As of writing, the total amount deposited in this account was Rs32 million. Since the account is shown as being open since July 6, let’s assume only three of those days were functioning; that comes to almost Rs10m per day. Next let’s assume this will pick up pace, since tacit pressure has come to apply on banks to raise funds from their employees (in a meeting held on Tuesday). Exactly how ‘voluntary’ the contributions will be is a separate conversation. For the moment, if we assume that on average, the account sees an inflow of Rs20m per day (which is highly optimistic), then it will take 72,500 days to reach the target, or 199 years.
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by Manish_P »

All Gulf based Pakis will be commanded to beg after every friday prayers and a special target be set for Ramadan month. All Haj going pakis can be asked to ensure that they beg and bring back at least twice/thrice the amount spent on going to Saudi else they will not be allowed to land in Pak. Hopefully that will bring it down to 99 years at least.

By that time the oil would have dried up, the Saudi land would be overrun by the Pakis, who will then start fantasizing of daming the Nile :)
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by Peregrine »

Manish_P wrote:All Gulf based Pakis will be commanded to beg after every friday prayers and a special target be set for Ramadan month. All Haj going pakis can be asked to ensure that they beg and bring back at least twice/thrice the amount spent on going to Saudi else they will not be allowed to land in Pak. Hopefully that will bring it down to 99 years at least.

By that time the oil would have dried up, the Saudi land would be overrun by the Pakis, who will then start fantasizing of damming the Nile :)
Manish_P Ji :

Hold your Horses Shrimaan Ji! All the Terroristanis will beg for Asylum in India and our Sickular and Lutyen's Reprobates and Tankers (substitute the Next Third Letter in the Alphabet for "T") will be shouting themselves hoarse and begging for these "Poor Terroristani Brethren and Sisteren" to be given Refuge in India!

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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by Manish_P »

Peregrine Sahab, IMVHO and with all due respect to you, in 99 years time, with current demographic and immigration rate trends, they will not have to beg..
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Indus Water Treaty

Post by Peregrine »

The art of giving a dam(n)

There are many facets to the water crisis in Pakistan, including poor governance and mismanagement, argues Shahid Mehmood

We all know the prediction: by 2025, Pakistan will run out of fresh water. This predict has been around for some time, but no government has done much to address this life-and-death issue. Recently, our very active chief justice (CJ) and the Supreme Court have ordered the construction of two mega dams. This step has received wide acclaim, as have many other initiatives of the CJ, such as his person visits to hospitals to check governance. The Apex Court went a step further by establishing an account to garner donations for these two dams.

However, I would like to humbly submit that there are other matters of serious concern that have not been taken up by the court. You see, it is not simply a matter of building a large dam. Rather, what lies at the heart of this issue is poor governance and an inability to comprehend what a sustainable, long-term solution entails.

The first issue is dams, whose primary purpose is to store water and to produce hydel power. Pakistan already has a few. But even their combined might is not enough to fulfil these purposes. Water availability for various purposes is at best random or patchy, and hydel electricity (even at peak flows of water in summer) reaches only 30 percent of the total electricity production. Transporting electricity from dams to areas of demand require substantial capital investments in lieu of transmission requirements. Where will this investment come from for electricity transmission?

Recourse, without a doubt, will have to be taken to contracting further debt (domestic and foreign) to set up transmission lines. For the sake of argument, let us say that this will also be achieved. Building newer dams would increase water storage capacity and hydel electricity production, yet there is no guarantee that water scarcity would be substantially curtailed or that load shedding would become history. That’s because these are problems of a different nature. Pakistan’s electricity (or power) sector’s main problem is poor governance and not the paucity of production capacity. Its transmission and distribution system is out-dated and colonial, losses due to faulty lines and theft are high, receivables are piling up all the time and pricing is done on political considerations rather than market mechanism. The end result, in brief, is that any increase in power production also increases the circular debt. Unless the governance issues are resolved, the added power production from these two dams will surely add to the genie of circular debt. Moreover, as I extensively discussed in an article in these pages, there are better alternatives to be considered.

Onto the issue of water availability and scarcity, and again it is not difficult to realise that merely building dams is not the answer. While it is true that water flows over time have dropped, Pakistan still receives considerable amount of water. The real problem lies in mismanagement, and lack of any policy for efficient use of water and water conservation. Of all the available water, almost 85 percent is used for agriculture while remaining 15 percent is used for other purposes (industry and domestic use). In using up this much water, Pakistan’s crop production is one of the most inefficient and wasteful. This fact has been known for a long time, yet there has been no policy to inhibit this wastage of a most precious resource. Other countries have successfully divested away from such waste by implementing technological applications like drip irrigation, sensors and satellites. Yet in Pakistan, there is hardly any worthwhile government level initiative to apply technology towards efficient water use in agriculture.

Absence of policy and pricing is evident in the non-agricultural sector too. Given that this sector receives only 15 percent of the total available water, it was even more imperative to have a policy for conserving and efficiently using water. But water is either not priced properly or free, and its distribution is unequal. Water metering is absent, and water recycling schemes (if any) only help in converting a small amount of total water consumed back to human consumption. In cities like Karachi and twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, for example, most areas come under severe water stress in peak summers. But at the same time, posh localities in these cities receive uninterrupted supply at least two to three times a day, used to propagate luxuries like expansive, Mughal-style lawns when a single tree or two would do. Just to gain the right perspective on policy, when California was struck with prolonged drought in recent times, its state government banned lawns.

So, even if the dams are built and water plus power availability does increase, it is highly unlikely that it would make much of a difference unless governance and policy issues are addressed. Add to this the fact that Pakistan’s runaway population would be around 225 million (or more) by the time these dams become operational, and we will have a situation where per capita availability of water and power would either be the same or less. Put another way, just like governance and policy is a necessary complement to make dams successful, so is population control. Again, Pakistan has yet to see any effective population control measures.

What was discussed above is by no means the end of the considerations that go hand in hand with building mega structures like dams. There are plenty of other issues that should have come under deliberation. I’ll mention a few, albeit briefly. First, Pakistan’s already existing hydel power sources are badly managed and maintained, and mostly of them were completed way behind schedule. Neelum-Jhelum is a flawless example of this. At least two decades behind schedule and costing many more billions than originally planned (extracted from taxpayers), the newly installed turbines stopped working even before they could produce a single watt. Who is responsible, and what is the guarantee that the two dams won’t meet the same fate? I have yet to see this question addressed. Second, had the honourable judges ever parsed through the details of why Daimer-Bhasha’s cost had escalated to $12 billion, they would have encountered the strange anomaly that the even in the aftermath of the global recession, when the cost of raw materials, petrol and wages, etc., took a mighty tumble for many years, the cost of this dam kept increasing. If their honourable lordships had pressed for details, they would have come across dubious methods of ‘escalating’ costs and some shady ‘formulae’ used for these cost escalations. It would have turned out that the costs of projects like dams sky rocket due to questionable tactics, and there might have been a good chance of cost revision towards the lower side. Moreover, governments of the future would have been warned to desist from such practices, thus saving precious financial resources in the long run. Of course, none of these were discussed or pondered.

I’ll now conclude the article by suggesting that no Pakistani doubts the sincerity of the honourable judges in ameliorating the ills that afflict Pakistan. Pakistan needs dams, and the SC’s initiative is welcome. But in striving to ameliorate these shortcomings, our lordships are making the same mistake as various governments committed. Solutions to pressing problems have to be sustainable and innovative. The SC’s directive of building dams, unfortunately, does not address these criterion.

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Indus Water Treaty

Post by Peregrine »

X Posted on the Ātaṅkavadīsthan Thread

Pakistan without water

How many of us knew about ALS before the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral? Serious topics don’t get the attention they deserve. You want people to know about a cause these days, you dare others to participate - preferably challenging them on social media. Of course, there have been other moronic activities as well, like the Tide Pod Challenge, which displayed more of desperate attention seeking behaviour. So is it just the views, the ‘fun’ element or can we stress on the educational aspect of these activities as well?

Recently, The Climate Group and C40 Cities have launched Zero Emission Vehicle Challenge; ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit to be held in September 2018. The aim is to urge the rapid adoption of electric vehicles worldwide to help fight the climate change.

At the moment, the effects of climate change are being felt through water. Extreme temperatures cause floods/droughts, which means deteriorating water quality, which leads to poor health and hunger breakouts, which influence the political and economic dynamics of any country. It’s becoming difficult to predict water availability and Pakistan, for one, is at risk of becoming water scarce by 2025 (Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resource) as discussed at a seminar titled “Nexus Matters - Institutionalizing the Water-Energy-Food Narrative in Sindh Province” held in Karachi.

Agriculture receives almost 93 percent of available freshwater according to Pakistan Agricultural Research Council. By extension, that means water is a major source and hence needs better policies, better management. With the Supreme Court’s directives for immediate construction of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams while appealing to general public and Pakistanis living abroad for donations, let’s take a look at the history, the laws and what we can do together (except accuse each other) to deal with this issue.

Water laws in colonial India

The first experience of colonial law on water came with the Northern India Canal and Drainage Act (1873) and the Bombay Irrigation Act (1879). The former subsequently became the Punjab and KP’s irrigation document while the latter eventually became the Sindh Irrigation Act. The laws are roughly the same: water of any river or stream or lake or any other natural collection of still water or subsoil water should be applied or used by the provincial government for the purposes of any existing or projected canal. It’s an absolute handed-over control of all natural resources relating to water to the provincial government to do with it as they will in the late 1870s. The Acts also included a whole range of English common law regarding the private rights of water between property owners, but these rights and law don’t stand against the provincial government.

In 1919, the Government of India Act 1919 (aka Montague-Chelmsford Reforms) introduced diarchy for the Provincial Governments, dividing provincial subjects into reserved and transferred categories. The subjects that were thought to be of key importance both for maintaining peace and order and for the welfare of the masses (land revenue administration, irrigation, famine relief, law and order, administration of justice, etc.) were classified as reserved whereas subjects that were of more local interest (education, public works, public health and sanitation, medical services, etc.) were treated as transferred.

In the Government of India Act 1935, we see water in the Provincial Legislature List: water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power.

Post partition

Freshwater resources are not mentioned in either of the legislative lists of the Constitution of 1973. So, technically, they fall under the provincial governments.

Later, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Ordinance 1992 establishes the IRSA to monitor the distribution of water between the provinces.

Significant changes in the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (2010) for devolution and empowerment of the provinces included sharing of ownership in oil, gas and territorial waters.

However, one of the important things that constitution says is that the Council of Common Interests, which was created in 1973 to harmonize federal-provincial relations, sets policy for Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). WAPDA is responsible for irrigation, water supply and drainage; the recreational use of water resources; the generation, transmission and distribution of power; the construction, maintenance and operation of power houses and grids; flood control; the prevention of waterlogging, and reclamation of waterlogged and salted lands; and inland navigation. Subject to the provisions of other laws, WAPDA also controls the underground water resources of any region in Pakistan, as well as the operation of all power houses, grids and ancillary facilities.

Building an effective narrative

The media has obviously briefed the masses on there being a water crisis. But, there is more noise than real information that it puts out. Where it should be serious issue, the discussions we hear on TV - or on radio or cinema or theatre - we don’t see them bringing in experts even though we have excellent researchers and institutes in Pakistan that work on this subject and can discuss the facts and provide authentic information.

If the research fraternity “is not engaging with the media”, these journalists, these media persons should use the Right to Information (RTI) laws to access the desired information from relevant departments, the point being, if somebody is proposing something then it’s the media’s responsibility to fact-check it, to ask the right questions. If we’re hearing from the Supreme Court that we don’t have the storage capacity or that ground water is depleting, then without blaming anyone, did we question the poor infrastructure maintenance?

For example, in Layyah (Punjab), 99 percent of irrigation water is misplaced due to poor management. And that’s just one district! Now imagine if we use these mediums properly, creatively, the impact it would create on the society. It’s okay if people have different political narratives - it’s only natural to have different viewpoints - and there may be disagreements, so it’s definitely not going to be an easy journey to ensure the matter does not get politicized. But, the media has to make sure the narrative is accurate and thus make it easier for the consumers to form a sane opinion.

Other solutions

Water plays on a number of scales - there’s water in the sky, under the ground, in oceans, in the air. At each scale or level, water operates under different governance platforms. Like, the irrigation side is very different from the drinking water side. The importance of each level depends on who you are, where you come from.

Climate changes are there, so are demanding lifestyle changes. We have the experts, we have the end users; we can come up with solutions that can help Pakistan to tackle challenges such as water harvesting and recycling, water supply for cities, and ensuring efficient agricultural water management and distribution. In addition to promoting a well-researched Water-Energy-Food narrative through media, it’s essential to empower small-scale farmers with the knowledge of this nexus, while private sector should invest in and come up with unique, innovative products.

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Indus Water Treaty

Post by Peregrine »

X Posted on the Terroristan Thread

Pakistan’s water economy: getting the balance right

Pakistan is a country characterised by great landscape variations from snow-covered northern mountains to irrigated floodplains of the Indus, vast coastal lands and extremely dry deserts of the Balochistan Plateau. Since independence in 1947, Pakistan has been struggling with managing its water resources as more than one-third of the water resources have origins outside of the country. This has resulted in water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, giving control over waters of the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej to India. With rising population and increasing demand for water, water security has become a major concern as the per capita annual water availability has dropped from 5,260 cubic metres in 1947 to less than 1,000 cubic metres in 2018. According to some recent studies, Pakistan is ranked 46th among 48 nations in the Asia-Pacific region, with only Kiribati and Afghanistan having a lower water security index. Pakistan is also among the top 10 most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. The looming shortages and worsening quality of water have become serious threats to food, health, energy and job security. Cities have run out of safe drinking water, agriculture shows lowest crop yields as crops remain thirsty and vast salinised floodplains below the Kotri Barrage and drying polluted wetlands like Lake Manchar have become sad environmental disasters. There is a National Water Policy and a National Climate Policy but the crisis seems to have become only worse as implementation road maps and action plans are missing. This situation requires extraordinary measures since business-as-usual is no longer an option. This article intends to provide an in-depth analysis of existing data on water availability, water demands, future water availability scenarios and implementable solutions to lead Pakistan from a water-scarce to a water-secure country.

The diagnostic analysis shows that for the last 30 years, the minimum, maximum and average flows in Indus are 67, 112 and 90 million acre feet (MAF) whereas same statistics for the Chenab river are 18, 33 and 26 MAF and for the Jhelum river 12, 32 and 23 MAF. The overall minimum, maximum and average availability of water from these rivers is 99, 183 and 144 MAF. The effective water available from underground water recharges from rivers and vast irrigation system is estimated to be around 50 MAF. Key questions are whether these water resources and rainfall over the irrigated and Barani areas are enough for consumptive water uses? Is too much water escaping the productive use below the Kotri Barrage to the ocean? Pakistan’s water storage capacity from existing large dams like Mangla and Tarbela is less than 14 MAF and is continuously decreasing due to sedimentation. A key question is whether an additional 6 to 10 MAF of water from planned dams can make Pakistan water secure?

A close examination of water flows for the last 30 years below the Kotri Barrage shows maximum, minimum and average flows as 92, 0.3 and 27 MAF. There have been many years, eg, from 2002-2003 when there were no substantial flows downstream the Kotri Barrage which means all the available water was diverted due to low supplies. Under such future scenarios will managers be able fill the existing and new dams?

A close study of the water balance of Pakistan shows water losses from dams to fields and within the farmer fields from 25 to 50 per cent due to use of flood irrigation and poor system management. Such losses are too high by international standards. Some of these losses can be recovered through an extra expense of energy from the groundwater while others are unrecoverable as they end up in saline unusable groundwater or evaporate back to the skies.

The storage yield curves of the Indus river basin show that up to 20 MAF, every additional MAF of storage will yield around 1 MAF of additional water supplies after which available water becomes lesser and lesser. Given the data of low flow below Kotri, there will be years when managers will be unable to fill the existing storages. The existing dams and network of barrages and canals have been able to divert around 105 MAF successfully. The additional surface storages can store around 10 MAF flows in the Indus Basin during normal and flood years. During flood years like 2010, more than 50 MAF of water flowed below the Kotri Barrage. During such years, there is an option of using these flows to recharge groundwater by diverting floods to the thirsty landscapes such as Thar.

Cultivation of many of the summer crops grown in Pakistan, such as rice and sugar, demands highest amounts of water while the largest winter crop, wheat, a staple food crop, remains under-irrigated. Can there be options to limit areas of rice and sugar cane and tailor Pakistan’s cropping patterns to present and future water availability?

Key conclusion from these scenarios is that there is a need to invest in more dams but additional storage alone will not be enough to make Pakistan water-secure. Greater gains need to be made for saving huge water losses equivalent to storage of over five new dams by investment in proven water efficiency technologies. At the farm level, such technologies can include use of drones for cropping mapping, water control devices such as smart valves, laser levelling, cheap drip irrigation, crops on beds, etc to reduce water losses. There can be leakage hotspot investments to reduce losses from supply system to saline groundwater and unproductive evaporation in the system. To improve water availability, one can recommend rooftop and micro catchment harvesting, artificial recharge of areas such as Thar with flood waters and storage of water in soils through conservation measures such as using polymers and other technologies. Given the trans-boundary nature of water resources with over 30 per cent of water supplies coming from upper catchments of Jhelum and Chenab rivers across the borders, there is a need to construct minimum linkage infrastructure, like linking Indus River below Tarbela with Jhelum River to be able to supply minimum water needs for strategic water and food security plans.

Where can be the practical entry points for road to a water-secure Pakistan? The urgent need is to provide safe drinking water as a basic human right to all citizens of Pakistan. If one uses such an approach, less than 2 MAF are needed to provide basic water supply to all Pakistanis. It is recommended to replace hazardous groundwater with surface water supplies from canals running close to our cities such as Lahore and Faisalabad and provide desalinised seawater to cities such as Karachi. Land-based wastewater treatment such as the one being used by the National University of Science and Technology through a UNESCO project can provide economical solution to treat waste waters from the cities which is being used to grow unsafe vegetables in the surroundings of most cities.

Existing water institutions and governance system has been unable to tackle the water security challenge of Pakistan. There is a need for a National Water Commission working under the directions of the National Water Council representing all stakeholders. The water education and continuous professional development need reforms through international collaborations. A national research university of water management similar to Hohai University in China is recommended closely linked with the Ministry of Water Resources.

In a nutshell, dams and artificial recharge of aquifers are urgently needed but increased water storage capacity of Pakistan cannot solve the water security problem alone. There must be a focus on improved governance, trans-boundary data availability and more extensive water loss analysis at the urban water supply system and irrigation districts levels for targeted improvement of water efficiency, availability and water equity. A sustained 10-year effort is needed for a water-secure Pakistan including construction of critical water infrastructure (dams and artificial recharge of aquifers), good governance according to 21st century water management standards, and technology for water resilience and efficiency. The business as usual is no more an option for Pakistan!

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Indus Water Treaty

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Int’l conclave on crucial water issues planned

ISLAMABAD: Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) is going to hold the first ever global conclave on crucial water issues including Indus Water Treaty, construction of dams & financing.

A senior official revealed The Express Tribune that LJCP under the chairmanship of Mian Saqib Nisar is going to hold a two day international conference on water issues in the next month (September), wherein international experts on water management have been invited.

Three issues including the Indus Water Treaty, depletion of underground water management and construction and financing of dams have been identified to discuss at the conference, he further informed.

A handsome Rs260m collected for dams

The Supreme Court led by CJP Saqib Nisar is actively perusing issues related to shortage of water. The issue was initiated when the top judge took up a case regarding construction of the Kala Bagh dam. According to the CJP, acute water shortage is becoming the biggest challenge for the country and requires effective measures in this regard. Likewise, no disputed dam would be constructed. Several meetings were also held in regard to tackling water issues and finally it was announced that work on the construction of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams will be started soon. The SC also formed an oversight panel headed by the chairman Wapda for the construction of these dams.

In the meanwhile, the chief justice created special account in the Supreme Court for the collection of funds. Till August 10 Rs827,408,182 (Rs827.40 million) has been collected so far. Numbers of renowned lawyers, few judges also contributed to the fund. However, no press release has been issued regarding the contributions made by the SC judges but a statement was issued about donations by three Islamabad High Court judges while on the very first day, CJP gave Rs1 million donation for the same.

Likewise, the apex court has also sought legal assistance from renowned lawyers to give their suggestions on water management in the country. It is learnt that senior lawyers will file written submissions soon.

However, one section of lawyers is raising question over the CJP’s initiative to take measures for the construction of dams and collecting funds for this purpose. The lawyers say that it is the job of executive to do the same.

The lawyers say tracheotomy of powers is being violated, when the meetings are being arranged by the apex court regarding the construction of dams. They say that the top court should give opportunity to the newly elected government to take steps to overcome the water issues.

Though SC is affectively passing directions regarding the construction dams as well as improving the health and education sectors but the apex court is still unable to evolve to put the house in order to introduce judicial reforms.

However, it is learnt that during the last two weeks, the CJP held meetings on enforced disappearances wherein senior officials including three serving military officers participated. Likewise, another meeting has been held on improvement of police procedures, both initiatives have been lauded as they are connected to the judicial system.

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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by arun »

Bravo! India needs to provide all the help to Afghanistan to squeeze the last drop of water from the Kabul River Basin. Not a drop of water must be permitted to cross over from Afghanistan to the Mohammadden Terrorism fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan. India must help the Shahtoot dam to be completed as early as possible.

India-backed Afghan dam to put Pakistan under pressure
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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I am surprised the USA never used the water/dams route go get NaPakis to behave??
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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British Journo Says That Dams Are NOT The Solution To Paki Water Problems !

A dam, but no plan
Catriona Luke, Friday Times
Aug 8, 2018
Once again the Diamer-Bhasha dam, 40 kilometers downstream of Chilas, is on the agenda for development. It would be a catastrophe for the region, which could include the loss of 30,000 historic petroglyphs on 5,000 stones and 22 villages in the area. More than 170 kilometers from Islamabad as the crow flies, over some of the most mountainous regions on earth, it is also of no conceivable use as a water source, nor as an easily sustainable hydro-electric hub.
Diamer -Bhasha Dam is the pet project of CJP Nisar !
The loss of water for the Gilgit-Baltistan region has sadly taken place this century. The river that enters Pakistan above Skardu cannot lay proper claim to the name of Indus – or Senge (lion) in Tibetan – because in 2002 the Indus was stopped by a massive hydro-electric dam built by the Chinese in Tibet at Senge Ali. Today the river that enters Pakistan is in fact the tributaries that joined the Indus in Ladakh and Kashmir: the Gar, the Zanskar, the Khyok and the Shigar.
Are the Chinis playing a double game with Pakistan ? First, they are suppressing Uighurs in "Chinese Turkestan", secondly they have "trapped" Pakistan in the the CPEC " debt trap" and now, they are "stealing" Paki waters with building a dam in Tibet ! What will they do next to "help" Pakistan :mrgreen:
In 2002, Alice Albinia travelled from Pakistan into Ladakh and Tibet to follow the course of the Indus. At Senge-Ali in Tibet she found a newly constructed dam that “is huge, pristine”. “Its massive concrete curve looms up from the riverbed like a vast wave frozen in mid-air …. The structure itself is complete, but the hydroelectric elements on the riverbed are still being installed. There are pools of water this side of the dam, but no flow. The Indus has been stopped…On the other side of the dam the road ends, submerged beneath the water. The river lake is huge; opaque and green, it fills the mountain valley and I want to cry out at the unkindness: at the demands imposed by other people’s needs, somewhere far away in China.”
In Tibet, the Indus, Sutlej, Mekong, Brahmaputra, Salween and Yangste emerge to start epic journeys through the subcontinent, southeast Asia and China. Little more than deep-running mountain torrents, they catch the seasonal glacial melt and drop through immense heights – the vital pressure for momentum to drive them off the Himalayas and into the plains below – picking up thousands of small tributaries as they go.
Dams wreck the environment, destroy natural habitats, displace people and ruin eco-systems. In a highly mountainous terrain, the cost of converting their hydroelectric functions over hundreds of kilometers to electricity, let alone water supplies, often reduce them to expensive and redundant white elephants. However, what they do provide in the development stages is big business and big money opportunities.
In Pakistan, under Field Marshall General Ayub’s administration, two massive dams came under construction in the 1960s, in response to the Indus Waters Treaty with India. The Tarbela dam was funded by contributions from a number of countries, administered by the World Bank and led by the Italian firm Impreglio, who headed a European consortium. It was designed to store 14 million cubic metres of water and generate 2.1 million kw of electricity. Even by the mid-1990s the dam was not complete and there has been a continuing build-up of silt in the lake, which has reduced its storage capacity.The Mangla dam, on the Jhelum river, was completed in 1968 as part of the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty to compensate for the diversion of tributaries to India, after 1947. In terms of volume it was the world’s tenth largest dam. It had a gross storage capacity of 5.55 MAF (million acre feet) and a hydroelectric capacity of 1170 mw. However, fifty villages were destroyed. Many Mirpuris migrated to England in the 1960s – Mirpuris make up more than half of Britain’s Pakistani population.Both the Tarbela and Mangla dams were sound investments for Pakistan. Both were located near and served the highly populated urban centres of Islamabad and Lahore, and all places in between. Yet it is madness to destroy the environment and ecology of the area between Shatial and the Bhasho river, where it enters the Indus, high up in the mountains of Baltistan, because the powers-that-be in Rawalpindi-Islamabad see an opportunity for a grand money-making scheme that will restore national prestige and reinforce a notion of a ‘naya’ (new) Pakistan.
Water conservation is the key in Pakistan – maintenance and expansion of existing structures – rather than remote hydroelectric dams that damage every possible form of life around them, including the life of the past. We know that big money is involved in reckless, destructive but prestigious dam schemes for naya Pakistan, although I do not think Imran Khan is a man who would like to go down in history as the prime minister who destroyed a crucial heritage site of the Indus. :roll: Luke a fan of Imran ?
The manipulation of water for money has been done before. Two and a half thousand years ago, the Greek historian Herodotus wrote in his Histories: “There is a plain in Asia which is shut in on all sides by a mountain range …The Great King blocked up all the passages between the hills with dykes and flood-gates and so prevented water from flowing out…From that time the five nations which were wont formerly to have use of the stream…have been in great distress…the king never gives the order to open the gates till the suppliants have paid him a large sum of money over and above the tribute.”
Modern Chini blackmail :roll:
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Indus Water Treaty

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X Posted on the Terroristani Thread

Long Article, but, it is a keeper!

How Pakistan wastes its water - Shanaz Ramzi | Syed Muhammad Abubakar

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DOOMS DAY IS JUST SEVEN YEARS AWAY – AT LEAST IN PAKISTAN

The year 2025 has been marked as the year when Pakistan — if it doesn’t mend its ways soon — will turn from a “water-stressed” country to a “water-scarce” country. Warnings about water running out have been issued separately by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR). And as the alarm bells began to ring, the chief justice of Pakistan launched a campaign to build the Diamer Bhasha and Mohmand Dam. In his inaugural speech, Prime Minister Imran Khan, too, has announced his backing for the plan.

Whether a single dam is the panacea to all of Pakistan’s water woes is, of course, questionable.

Consider the facts: per capita surface water availability of 5,260 cubic metres per year in 1951 turned into around 1,000 cubic metres in 2016. This is likely to further drop to about 860 cubic meters by 2025. The PCRWR describe that Pakistan reached the “water stress line” in 1990 and crossed the “water scarcity line” in 2005.

The Indus river system receives an annual influx of about 134.8 million acre feet (MAF) of water. The mean annual rainfall ranges from less than 100 millimetres to over 750 millimetres. Surface water comprises glacial melt up to 41 percent, snowmelt up to 22 percent and rainfall 27 percent.

In terms of groundwater, Pakistan is currently extracting 50 MAF from underground aquifers — this has already crossed the sustainable limit of safe yield. The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) enabled Pakistan to enhance water availability at canal headworks to about 104 MAF through construction of dams. However, this has decreased due to increased siltation.

Pakistan’s water woes can largely be bifurcated into issues of quality and quantity. The water coming into our systems over the past decades hasn’t changed much. But demand has soared due to an exponential rise in population. Existing reservoirs’ storage capacity cannot sustain this population boom while its capacity has also been reduced over the years.

Meanwhile, the water reaching the end user has also decreased due to further losses along the way. Our water management practices are highly inefficient — one illustration is how freshwater is used for irrigation purposes. The kind of crops we grow — rice and sugarcane, for example — and the way we irrigate them isn’t sustainable, either.

While doomsday is just seven years away, it took over 70 years for Pakistan to draw up its first-ever National Water Policy (NWP), approved in April this year. The policy is still riddled with some significant gaps but at least, it lays out a few principles that ought to be adhered to. But in some ways, it is merely a compilation of suggestions. Water sustains life, society and the economy, and therefore, the scope of the crisis involves many actors and solutions need to be integrated. A major rethink is required at all levels.

Hell or high water

The Pakistan Economic Survey, 2017-2018 (prepared by the Ministry of Finance) details the state of the economy over the past year. It announces that the agriculture sector recorded a “remarkable” growth of 3.81 percent (as opposed to its targeted growth of 3.5 percent). The high water-need crops of rice (8.65 percent growth) and sugarcane (7.45 percent) both surpassed their respective production targets for 2017-18.

Prosperity brought by high water-need crops has meant that more farmers have preferred planting more rice and sugarcane.

The Pakistan Economic Survey, 2017-2018 notes that while rice was sown over 2,724 thousand hectares last year, it rose to 2,899 thousand hectares this year. “[H]igher domestic prices and availability of inputs on subsidised rates, good advisory along with increase in export,” according to the survey, contributed to more land being used to grow rice. This 6.4 percent increase ultimately yielded a production high of 7,442 thousand tonnes. Last year, 6,849 thousand tonnes of rice were produced in Pakistan.

The survey also shows that sugarcane was cultivated on an area of 1,313 thousand hectares, an increase on last year’s area of 1,218 thousand hectares. “[G]ood economic return encouraged the growers to bring more area under cultivation and [so did] comparatively timely payments from sugar mills last year,” explains the survey. This 7.8 percent rise in acreage translated into a 7.4 percent hike in production: from 75.482 million tonnes to 81.102 million tonnes.

There is a flip side, however.

More water is utilised in growing these water-intensive crops. For instance, sugarcane requires 1,500-2,500mm of rainfall (or water from other sources) to complete the growth cycle. In other words, to produce a kilo of sugarcane, between 1,500 and 3,000 litres of water are utilised. Similarly, at 0.45 kilograms per cubic metre, Pakistan’s rice water productivity is 55 percent lower than the average water productivity of one kilogramme per cubic metre for rice in Asian countries.

Because many people’s livelihoods are tied to growing more rice and more sugarcane, these crops will remain popular. Without any education or awareness about how not to waste water or how to utilise efficient irrigation methods, the wastage will continue.

Policy versus reality

It follows, therefore, that a country tethering on the edge of water scarcity ought to de-incentivise the growing of water-intensive crops. In practice, this means convincing the farmers that they will not be hit by a financial loss were they to switch to other crops.

The NWP acknowledges that irrigated agriculture is the backbone of the economy and consumes around 95 percent of the water resources. Furthermore, around one million tube wells in the country pump about 55 MAF of underground water for irrigation, which is 20 percent more than what’s available from canals — signalling how highly water-intensive the agriculture sector is. This is all unsustainable.

On the other hand, while there is great water wastage in the rural sector, providing potable water to the cities has become a challenge. One of the more achievable targets set by the NWP is the access to clean and safe drinking water and sanitation facilities for all. Towards that end, the policy has also urged the promotion of greater urban water management and revision of urban water tariffs. It also encourages enhancing recovery and reducing system losses, treatment of industrial effluents and provision of sustainable supply of water for everyone.

But it is still the agricultural sector whose water utilisation needs to be under the microscope. Till now, the policy seems divorced from the financial compulsions of those whose livelihoods are associated with the agricultural sector.

Dr Pervaiz Amir, director of the Pakistan Water Partnership (PWP) believes that policies are designed and implemented for the people and the civil society should have been engaged in debates and discussions towards this end.

“Balochistan has already prepared its water policy whereas Punjab and Sindh are working on theirs,” explains Dr Amir. “It is very important that the provincial policies are congruent and must not be in conflict with the national water policy of Pakistan.”
For him, the federal water ministry is weak and there is an urgent need to strengthen Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).

“Instead of reviving old horses, a better option is to establish a new institution which has a diverse set of experts, not just engineers,” he adds.

The PWP chief points out that the policy fails to explain the most important question of where the resources will come from. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one option; the Chinese are already operating a plant to provide potable water to their engineers working in water-scarce Gwadar. But will such measures have broader utility?

“Through CPEC, investments are going to increase,” continues Dr Amir, “and the question about how CPEC is going to integrate with water demands immediate attention. We should know the supply and demand side.”

Tahir Rasheed, CEO of the South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC), also laments the absence of stakeholder consultations in all provinces, including Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. He sees the need for the water policy to be linked with national, regional and international commitments such as Pakistan’s Vision 2025 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Integrated watershed management should be promoted,” says Rasheed, “including ecological conservation practices in uphill watersheds, by exploring the possibility of joint watershed management of trans-boundary catchment areas with neighbouring countries. The policy is also silent on reactivating centuries-old traditional wisdom of water management and use of tools such as Rodh Koi system, Sailaba, Karez systems, etc. It should also address the trans-boundary water pollution aspect, on which even the Indus Waters Treaty is silent.”

Dr Tariq Banuri, the founding executive director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), a senior climate expert and currently heading the Higher Education Commission (HEC) as its chairman, agrees that Pakistan is wasting its water resources due to inefficient consumption patterns and negligible recycling.

When asked if the water policy will help address the indiscriminate wastage of this precious resource, he said: “Our systems are inefficient. The National Water Policy does spell a range of issues with respect to water but it doesn’t have details that can help to operationalise it. Its strategic and operational steps are not devised as yet. The environmental aspect of water in sustaining the environment has not been recognised in the policy either.”

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Banuri explains that population growth has played a major role in decreasing the available amount of water per person and clearly shows that the lower riparian will not be able to receive their due share.

“The existing water system is actually on first-come-first-serve basis and this is not useful,” he says. “The water policy does recognise it but its details have not been worked out as yet.”

Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, CEO of the Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD)-Pakistan and a senior water expert, termed water a provincial matter and urged the need for a national-level framework that acts as a guiding tool for provinces.

“The water policy is an enabling document,” comments Sheikh, “which will lead to the establishment of national level water institutions, and unless the institutions are endowed and empowered, we won’t be able to achieve desirable results.”

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Ali urged the federal government to earnestly address the reservations of the provinces concerning the water policy and also informed that the policy framework will make an overdue start.

“The policy will require sectoral plans and unless they are developed for key departments, things won’t go very far. First of all, there should be an overall implementation plan and then sectoral implementation plans should be developed for agriculture, climate, energy and other sectors,” sums up Ali.

While experts have termed the policy a step in the right direction, they have also recommended some measures that will make it further inclusive and bridge possible gaps. Now that the policy has been approved, the government must work aggressively to implement it in letter and in spirit if it is serious to address the water crisis that the entire nation is grappling with.

Please also Read :

1. PERUSING THE POLICY

2. THE CASE FOR RAINWATER HARVESTING

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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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In first contact with Imran govt, India, Pak to discuss Indus waters - Sachin Parashar, ToI
India will have its first official engagement with the Imran Khan government in Pakistan with a team of officials travelling to Islamabad this week for a meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission.

While India has justified the water talks in the past as a "mandatory requirement" under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the timing of the meeting on this occasion is significant as it will come just a week after Khan took over as PM.

Pakistan under Khan has appealed to India to move beyond the cycle of dialogue and disruption. While India remains cautious mainly because of its concerns over cross-border terrorism, PM Narendra Modi earlier wrote to Khan expressing commitment to meaningful and constructive engagement with Pakistan.

Despite both sides wanting "constructive" engagement, any comprehensive dialogue is ruled out for now. Meetings on the Indus waters and also engagement on the sidelines of multilateral events though are being considered by India as these involve little risk of undermining its official position that there can be no substantive engagement with Islamabad until it acts against India-specific terror groups.

Both countries have not yet ruled out the possibility of a meeting between foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UNGA next month. Pakistan has shared with World Bank, which oversees IWT, its concerns over the inauguration of the Kishanganga hydroelectric power project. Islamabad protested the inauguration by Modi saying the project violated the IWT as it would limit its supplies from a river flowing into Pakistan.

Besides the 330 MW project on the Kishanganga river (tributary of Jhelum), India's 850 mw Ratle run-of-river hydroelectric project, too, has been a bone of contention between the two countries for long. Ratle is being built on the Chenab river in Kishtwar district of J&K.

Though water of eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) are allocated to India under the 1960 IWT, the country is under obligation to let the water of western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) flow to Pakistan. India is, however, permitted to construct hydroelectric projects on the western rivers and can even use the water from these rivers for irrigation and other domestic purposes.

The last meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March when both the countries had shared details of water flow and the quantum of water being used under the treaty.
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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Prem
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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arun
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by arun »

The Mohammadden Terrorist Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s spin on the talks is that a “The major breakthrough of the two-day talks held in Lahore is that India has agreed to get the projects’ sites visited by our experts.”.

What the Pakistani’s were not saying was that “Both the countries agreed to undertake the Treaty mandated tours of both the Indus Commissioners in Indus basin on both sides.”:

Pakistani experts to inspect two Indian hydropower project sites

Times of India reports that India refutes Pakistan's spin on just-concluded Indus Waters :

Times Of India

The MEA Press Release cited by TOI emphasising “Both the countries agreed to undertake the Treaty mandated tours of both the Indus Commissioners in Indus basin on both sides” :

115th meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission (PIC)
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Indus Water Treaty

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X Posted on the Terroristan Thread

River Indus flow to increase by 10%, pose serious threats in future: study - Suhail Yusuf

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KARACHI: Pakistan will see a 10 per cent increase in mean water flow in River Indus for the period 2046 – 2075, according to a new baseline study and predictions of most authentic climate models.

A team of experts from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) conducted a comprehensive baseline survey of the period 1976–2005 of all 54 rivers of South Asia and used this data in the climate models considered more accurate thus far.

As a result, the future predictions of a wetter South Asia are in consonant with the baseline study of the past. Global warming and climatic change – with more rainfall and enhanced temperatures – are responsible for the projected increase in water flow.

‘Indus delta has shrunk by 92% since 1833’

According to the research, flow of Indus, Ganges and Brahmputra rivers will increase by 10 to 30 per cent annual runoff according to the paper published earlier this month in the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. The mean runoff will increase from 2046 to 2075.

The Ganges – Brahmaputra and Deccan plateau will see a 15 per cent spike in water flow, while 20 per cent increase is projected in Narmada – Tapti basin and Sri Lanka.

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The imminent increase in water flow of the rivers demands urgent need for a common platform for the South Asian countries to tackle the issue.

Challenges for Pakistan

An increase in River Indus flow even by a small percentage could pose serious challenges for Pakistan. The country’s experts have already warned that rainy period is decreasing in lower parts of the country and increasing in upper areas. Melting of glaciers, heat and evaporation will also lead to increase in flow of River Indus in the future. Thus India should demand a corresponding INCREASE to 29.8%

Pakistan’s renowned climatologist and main author of the country’s first climate change policy, Dr Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry says the study indicates increased flow of South Asian rivers, which is in consonant with previously held views of the experts.

“These projections demand scaling up of climate resilient integrated water resource management practices in the South Asia region, one of the most climate vulnerable region globally,” added Chaudhry. Talk about yourself Mr. Chaudhry!

95% of plastic polluting world’s oceans come from just 10 rivers including Indus

Pakistan’s hugely populous districts are directly located in the possible flood regions and increased river flow will be a problem for these areas.

“Developing resilience in agriculture to regular climate shocks is one of the biggest challenges facing our region, as climate change will increase irregular rainfall patterns and increase incidence of floods and droughts,” Chaudhry said.

Scientists used different tools, satellite imagery and field work to collect the best data sets. Then the data was used in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) frame work with some downscaling for the South Asian region.

The CMIP was designed by hundreds of leading experts to predict future aspects of climate change. The first CMIP was devised in 1995 and still updating with more modifications. However, CSIRO experts also use other hydrological models too.

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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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Are the pakis spinning a make believe non-event to make I'm the Dimmy look like an achiever? According to this TV channel, India has accepted paki objections:

India accepts Pakistan’s objections over Pakal Dul, Kalnai projects: sources
India has accepted Pakistan’s objections over the Pakal Dul and lower Kalnai power projects after Pakistan put forth concrete evidence against the projects India has started on the Chenab River, sources informed Geo News on Friday.
Pakistan contended that the projects violate the Indus Waters Treaty signed between the two countries. According to sources, the nine-member Indian delegation accepted Pakistan's objections over the issue and signed a joint declaration after conferring with its ministry.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/209332-india- ... i-projects
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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anupmisra wrote:Are the pakis spinning a make believe non-event to make I'm the Dimmy look like an achiever? According to this TV channel, India has accepted paki objections:

India accepts Pakistan’s objections over Pakal Dul, Kalnai projects: sources
Of course, Pakistan never agrees to any Indian project on the western rivers. The Dummy angle is just coincidental.

As for India 'accepting' the objection, that made me laugh. India plans all its IWT projects very well, including even the inter-river transfer of waters in the Kishenganga (BTW, Pakistan believed that the project would be struck down on that issue alone but we sailed through. That's the level of confidence with which we work). Paksitan is an incorrigible liar and it lies to its own people, whether it is Naya or Purana Pakistan.
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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Re: Indus Water Treaty

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Pak allows inspection of Kotri barrage by India: report.

Pakistan will allow India to inspect the Kotri barrage in the lower Indus, while New Delhi has agreed to Islamabad's request for a special inspection of the hydroelectric projects in the Jhelum river basin, including the Kishanganga scheme, a Pakistani media report said Tuesday.

The decision was taken during last week's meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission held in Lahore, the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Imran Khan became Prime Minister on August 18.

"During the meeting, both the sides agreed to conduct the general tours of inspection which could not be conducted since 2014," the Dawn newspaper reported.

"The Pakistani Commissioner for Indus Waters (PCIW) will visit the Chenab basin in the last week of September 2018, followed by a tour of Indian Commissioner for Indus Water (ICIW) to the Kotri barrage in the lower Indus," the report said quoting the minutes of the Permanent Indus Commission meeting held on August 29 and 30.

Kotri Barrage is a barrage on the Indus River between Jamshoro and Hyderabad in Pakistan's Sindh province. It was completed in 1955, and used to control water flow in the Indus river for irrigation and flood control purposes.

"Pakistan also urged India to arrange for the special tour of inspection of the projects in the Jhelum basin, including the Kishanganga hydroelectric project (HEP) which is pending since 2014, on which the ICIW gave his assurance to arrange the same promptly," the report claimed.

According to a senior Pakistani official, the inspection by a Pakistani team is likely to be held on the eve of the next meeting of the commission.

"Since the talks between the two countries have been restored, Pakistani team may inspect the Kishanganga project on the eve of the next meeting of the permanent commission for the Indus waters in India or before this," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Islamabad had been objecting to the proposed Rs 5,882-crore run-of-the-river hydroelectric dam project in Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming it would affect the flow of the Kishanganga River (called the Neelum River in Pakistan).

Pakistan had also raised concerns over the inauguration of the 330-MW Kishanganga hydropower plant by India during talks with the World Bank in Washington in June.

The two sides also agreed to undertake tours by their commissioners in the Indus basin on both sides to resolve issues on the various hydroelectric projects (HEPs), including the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Their (Indian experts') visit to Pakistan will be after our experts end the inspection of the Lower Kalnai and Pakal Dul projects, scheduled by the end of this month," the official said.

India and Pakistan signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory.

Under the provisions of the Treaty, waters of the eastern rivers - Sutlej, Beas and Ravi - had ben allocated to India and the western rivers - the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - to Pakistan, except for certain non-consumptive uses for India.

The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.
Peregrine
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Indus Water Treaty

Post by Peregrine »

X Posted on the Terroristan Thread

Pakistan has capacity to store water for 36 days

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan being a water stressed country has the capacity of storing water for a maximum of 36 days, while the rest of the world can hold water for use for 130 days, the officials of Ministry of Water Resources informed the Senate Special Committee on Water Scarcity here Thursday.

Water Resources Secretary Shumail Ahmed Khawaja while briefing the committee regarding water availability in the country and its storages said that current water available resources is 138 million acre feet (MAF) with a storage capacity of 13.7 MAF which is only 10 percent of available water resources.

The meeting of the Senate Special Committee on Water Scarcity was convened by Senator Moula Bux Chandio. Khawaja said that in order to come to a consensus on this all important water issue, four sessions with chief ministers of all the four provinces were held under the Council of Common Interests (CCI). After rigorous deliberations a consensus was achieved after which the National Water Policy was conceived. All provinces agreed to a Water Charter according to which no matter which party holds the reins of power, there shall be no change in the policy until 2030 on account of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Agreement on the construction of Mohmand and Bhasha Dams were achieved as a result of this meeting as well.

Apart from construction of dams, Khawaja stressed the need to conserve water. He stated that 90-95 percent of Pakistan’s water is being used for irrigation; 50 percent of which is lost during canal diversion. According to the National Water Policy until 2030, 33 percent of water should be conserved. However, this seems impossible in the current context. According to different reports 8-9 million acre feet of water can be conserved if this wastage is controlled.

He further said that the National Water Council was established to achieve this goal. The panel was headed by the prime minister and included chief ministers of the four provinces, Prime Minister Azad Kashmir and Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan. Some ministers and secretaries were also part of the team. As a result of detailed deliberations it was suggested that water distribution systems around the country be developed. However, lack of coordination got the better of it and nothing could be achieved in this regard.

Senator Azam Khan Swati stressed the need for strengthening officers working on this daunting challenge. He also said that for any progress to be made, it is imperative that awareness about this issue is created at every tier of society.

While highlighting the problems of Sindh, Senator Sassui Palijo said that since yearly rainfall is rare in the province, the people of Sindh depend on its river systems for water. She stressed the need for equal distribution of water and implementation of the Water Apportionment Accord 1991 to address grievances of smaller provinces.

Water Resources Secretary Shumail Ahmed Khawaja was of the view that for any progress to be made it was imperative that water distribution in the four provinces is regulated. While discussing Senator Sherry Rehman’s notice on July 23, 2018 regarding the need for installation of water desalination plants in the country, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) informed the committee when faced with acute water shortage desalination is the last option, due to exorbitant costs.

It was revealed that investment costs for a large plant was $900-1200/m3 and $2500/m3 for a small plant. Desalination costs would come up to $1.0/m3 for a small plant. Senator Brig (R) John Kenneth Williams was of the view that the option of installation of filtration plants on the coastal belt must also be explored.

The meeting was attended by Senator Sassui Palijo, Senator Dr Ghous Muhammad Khan Niazi, Senator Brig. (R) John Kenneth Williams, Senator Muhammad Akram, Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, and senior officers of the Ministry of Water Resources, Indus Rivers Systems Authority (Irsa) and Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR).

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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by Kashi »

J-K, Punjab sign agreement for resuming work on Shahpurkandi dam project- Business Standard

The governments of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir signed an agreement Saturday to resume work on a dam project that would help reduce the quantum of India's share of Ravi waters flowing into Pakistan.

Shahpurkandi dam is a national project and required financial assistance will be provided by the Water Resources Ministry for its construction. The construction of this project was halted in 2014 owing to a dispute between the two states.

"The project will help in irrigation of about 37,000 ha of land in Punjab and J&K and will produce 206 MW of clean power. It will also help India to achieve a more efficient utilisation of waters of eastern rivers allocated (to it) under the Indus Waters Treaty and reduce the quantum of India's share of Ravi waters flowing into Pakistan," according to an official statement by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

"A historic agreement was signed between the state chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam and his Punjab counterpart Karan Avtar Singh on the implementation of the Shahpurkandi dam project," a Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson said in Srinagar.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and Punjab Water Resources Minister Sukhbinder Sarkaria.

The ambitious Shahpurkandi dam project on the Ravi river is a major irrigation project which will benefit both Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Jammu and Kashmir is entitled to 0.69 MAF of water from the Ravi and it is utilising only 0.215 MAF, he said.

The construction of 79.5 kilometer of Ravi canal and 493 kilometer of distribution network in Jammu and Kashmir has been completed, he added.

This project will immensely benefit the districts of Kathua and Samba, besides catering to some parts of Jammu district, the spokesperson said.

It will irrigate 32,000 hectares (80,000 acres) of agricultural land in the Kandi areas, upstream and downstream along the Jammu-Pathankot national highway in Samba and Kathua districts.

This, he added, will ensure the prosperity of the farmers in these areas and will lead to overall development of the region.

The project will be completed by the Punjab government in three years and the water is expected to flow to Jammu and Kashmir by the end of 2020, the spokesperson said.

According to the agreement, Jammu and Kashmir will be provided 1,150 cusecs of water under all circumstances, subject to a ceiling of 0.69 MAF as per the 1979 agreement, he said.

Other significant specifics of the agreement include that the Punjab government will continue the project implementation.

However, the project will be monitored by a team comprising a Central Water Commission member and chief engineers from the two states, the spokesperson said.

The balance costs on account of compensation (approximately Rs 115 crore) for land acquisition for Thein dam, as per the agreement, will be paid by the Punjab government immediately, in accordance with the orders of the relevant statutory authorities under the Land Acquisition Act, he said.

The Punjab government will make available to Jammu and Kashmir 20 per cent of the total power generated at the Thein dam at the rate fixed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission with a ceiling of Rs 3.50 per unit, with prospective effect, he said.

He added that all claims and counter-claims of the two states on account of delayed implementation will be settled through arbitration as per the 1979 agreement.

He said the most critical element which has been introduced now and which was not there either in the MoU of 2017 or the cabinet decision of 2017 is the introduction of "Joint Steering and Supervision" of water supplies during the operation of the dam.

This is the safety clause which will ensure that Jammu and Kashmir is never deprived of its original share of waters and protects its interests in perpetuity, the spokesperson said.
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by Picklu »

While pakistan in the major beneficiary of the western rivers per IWT, India too have some rights which we have not used much so far but slowly taking up now under the current Modi govt.
The only way pak can prevent us is by "prior usage".
My take is that all this nautanki of CJP and others to build dams even by donations etc are for that purpose only; to build those dams and then invoke prior usage.
Instead of ROTFLMAO, we should take up more run of the river projects on the western rivers.
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by anupmisra »

Gen Bajwa donates Rs1bn for dam fund on military's behalf
Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday called on Chief Justice Saqib Nisar at the Supreme Court to present a cheque of Rs1,005.99 million as the army's donation to the Diamer-Basha and Mohmand Dams Fund set up by the apex court, according to a statement issued by the SC.
In July, the armed forces of Pakistan had announced they would contribute funds for the construction of the Diamer-Basha and Mohmand dams.
“The officers of army, navy and air force will contribute their two days’ pay, while soldiers [will be donating] one day’s pay to the announced fund for this national cause,” the military's spokesperson had said.
"When Pakistan was made, every Pakistani had 5,600 cubic metres of water. Today, that stands at only 1,000 cubic metres."
Fact-check Time:

Population ratio and consumption claim: In 1947, population of West Pakhanistan was 30 Million. Last year it was 207 M (not counting PoK and GB. Assume total population to be 210 M (which is on a lower side). Population rise: 700%. Expected water consumption per momeen should have fallen from 5600 CuM to 800 CuM. But in their calculation, it was 1000 CuM. Conclusion - India released more water than it should have.

Waist Bajwa's check to the fund: Baki standing army, airforce and naval strength including reserves - 1,571,000 (2017). If everyone was forced to contribute, then the average daily salary is PkR 640 per momeen or $5 per day? Another curious stat: Annual payroll is 1,005.99 million or $8,112,823 X 365 = US$ 2,961,180,242 or $3.0 Billion. In 2017, the defence budget was US$ 10.8 Billion. Is Waist claiming that 27% of their budget goes to direct payroll? Conclusion - their defence budget has vast sums of slush funds.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1432093/gen-b ... rys-behalf
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by abhijitm »

^^ payroll is not included in pak defense budget. It is over and above.
anupmisra
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by anupmisra »

abhijitm wrote:^^ payroll is not included in pak defense budget. It is over and above.
I am not sure if this statement is accurate. Pensions for retired soldiers and future acquisitions are not included in the defence budget. See this link.

Budget 2018-19: Rs1.1 trillion proposed for defence
However, the allocation does not give the complete picture of the defence budget, as it does not include Rs260bn for pension of retired soldiers and the allocation for major weapon procurement.
The defence budget details show that maximum growth (31pc) has been recorded in the employees-related expenses over the original allocation for the outgoing year and 16.25pc when compared with the revised numbers. This head covers the salaries and allowances paid to troops in uniform and civilian employees.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1404337
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by abhijitm »

^^ thanks. I stand corrected.
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by kit »

SSridhar wrote:In first contact with Imran govt, India, Pak to discuss Indus waters - Sachin Parashar, ToI
India will have its first official engagement with the Imran Khan government in Pakistan with a team of officials travelling to Islamabad this week for a meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission.

While India has justified the water talks in the past as a "mandatory requirement" under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the timing of the meeting on this occasion is significant as it will come just a week after Khan took over as PM.

Pakistan under Khan has appealed to India to move beyond the cycle of dialogue and disruption. While India remains cautious mainly because of its concerns over cross-border terrorism, PM Narendra Modi earlier wrote to Khan expressing commitment to meaningful and constructive engagement with Pakistan.

The last meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March when both the countries had shared details of water flow and the quantum of water being used under the treaty.
khans first chai biskoot session with India :mrgreen: poor chap :lol:
kit
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by kit »

abhijitm wrote:^^ payroll is not included in pak defense budget. It is over and above.
well and good ., that sum will definitely be mind-boggling to the average abdul ..but then why is the fauji army so scared of its little country ?!
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by kancha »

Folks, doing a three part blog series titled Indus Water Treaty - A Pragmatic Water Sharing Agreement or a Potential Source of Conflict?
This is the Link to the first part.
May have a look.
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Re: Indus Water Treaty

Post by SSridhar »

kancha wrote:Folks, doing a three part blog series titled Indus Water Treaty - A Pragmatic Water Sharing Agreement or a Potential Source of Conflict?
This is the Link to the first part.
May have a look.
Good effort, kancha.

However, you start by saying, "a fair and acceptable treaty". From an Indian PoV, it is not fair and therefore nor acceptable. Was so even at the time of agreement and continues to remain so.
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