Muhammad Ali
The Indus river flows through the north-west of India and Pakistan. It arises within Tibet from a holy lake called Mansarovar, the mouth of the lion. After rising in Tibet, the Indus runs north-west between the Karakoram and the Himalayas. In Kashmir, the river crosses the Line of Control (LoC) and enters Baltistan. The principal tributaries of the Indus in the west are Kabul and Kurram rivers, while its five main tributaries in the East are the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers. The British laid the foundation of the Indus Basin River System in the late 19th Century. The system did exist prior to the British annexation of the area but in a rudimentary form. The irrigation network constructed during the British rule, especially after 1885, was based on perennial canals which led off from river-spanning weirs and head works.
Vast areas which had remained inaccessible under the traditional irrigation system were brought under cultivation by this canal system. In the Punjab, two major systems of irrigation were developed, Bari Doab and the Sutlej Valley Project; originally designed as one scheme. With the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, including the province of Punjab, the Indus system was also divided; while the Headwork fell to India, the canals ran through Pakistan.
Almost all the disputes over water that have arisen between India and Pakistan are about dam projects constructed or being constructed by one of the two parties. The negotiations over these issues involve divergent concerns and interests, based on their interpretations of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
After the signing of Indus Waters Treaty, the first dispute India and Pakistan got engaged was over the construction of the Salal Dam by India on the Chenab River in 1974. During the course of the negotiations, several options were discussed for reaching out a final settlement including resort to the arbitration procedure provided in the Treaty. Finally, India agreed to make some changes in the design of the dam including reducing the height of the dam and to the permanent closure of the diversion canal after the Hydel plant had been commissioned.
The second challenge to the treaty came regarding the construction of the Wullar Barrage, as it is called by Pakistan, or Tulbul Navigation Project as termed by India. The dispute arose in 1984, when India began to build the barrage and navigational project at the mouth of the Wullar Lake on the River Jhelum. Pakistan argues that the existing water level in the Wullar Lake is enough for small boats to navigate between Baramula and Srinagar, so there is no need to store additional water. It further argues that the dam’s storage capacity was 32 times more than the 10,000 maf capacity provided under the Indus Waters Treaty.
The Kishanganaga project (India) is another controversial water issue between the two countries. The 330 MW Hydroelectric project is located about 160 kilometers upstream of Muzaffarabad and involves diversion of Kishanganga or Neelum River, as is known in Pakistan, to a tributary, Bunar Madumati Nullah of the River Jhelum through a 22-kilomtre tunnel. Pakistani objections are based on the grounds that the project will have adverse effects on the Neelam-Jhelum. It is feared that the project could reduce Pakistan’s total water availability from an estimated 154 maf to about 140 maf, a shortage of about 8-9 per cent.
The Baglihar water dispute is the most specific of all these disputes between the two countries foregrounding their, fears, perceptions and dilemmas on water sharing. Besides these dam projects, there are several internal and regional issues that strain the Indus Waters Treaty. The most important is the view of the people in Jammu and Kashmir who see the Treaty as exploiting their rights by India.
Second, hostile anti-Pakistan segments in India view the Indus Waters Treaty as giving undue concessions to Pakistan, which Prime Minister Nehru signed to ‘purchase peace’. Since it did not bring peace to Kashmir, they want to revisit the concessions given to Pakistan under the Treaty.
There are also environmental and ecological changes which call for consideration. Because of climate change, the Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. For water resources, this means an increase in water initially due to flooding. Within the next 50 years, however, experts believe there will be a 30 to 40 percent drop in glacial melt. A strategy to create more storage capacity for water is the only option available, but experts point out that glacial melt is not only water but also silt that will reduce the capacity of the reservoirs. Apparently, this aspect has not been considered at the political level or at least has not gained any prominence.
Political considerations, of course, cannot be ignored while dealing with the water issue on technical grounds, especially keeping in mind the present distrust in India-Pakistan relations mainly spearhead by India. Hence, there is a dire need that the two countries should seek international support, perhaps again with the World Bank taking the lead to negotiate a sound water sharing and usage mechanism.
