Hydro politics
Hydro Politics in Pakistan- Water has vital importance in all aspects of human life. The importance of water can be estimated from the fact that Allah Almighty said in the Holy Quran that We created every living thing from water. Quran says
“And We created from water every living thing.”
Water has been a necessity in every era from ancient times to this modern day۔ In the past, tribes used to roam around in search of water and stay wherever they found water۔ The study of history reveals to us that the great series of wars between these tribes were fought over this water dispute. Water is as important today as it was in the past and water has become a major conflict among many countries.
Water is very important in our daily life and it is essential for sustaining the life on Earth. Achieving the food supply and improving the quality of life totally depend on the availability of water. Although water is available on this Earth in a large quantity it occupies 70% of Earth’s surface out of which only 2.5% is considered fresh water and is consumable remaining 97.5% is highly saline.
Hydro politics/ Water politics:
Water politics refers to all the problems related to water and to find their appropriate solution with mutual understanding.
Definition:
Water politics also called as hydro politics is affected by the availability of water and water resources
Arun P. Elhance defines hydro politics
“The systematic study of conflict and cooperation between states over water resources that transcend international borders”
Classification:
Mollinga P.P classifies hydro politics as
- The everyday politics of water resources management
- The politics of water policy in the context of sovereign states
- Inter-state hydro politics
- The global politics of water
Everyday politics of water resources management
This type of politics deals with the water resources and its proper provision within the country. The use of these water resources is also discussed under this politics.
The politics of water policy in the context of sovereign states
This politics is concerned with the formulation of policy on water bodies between two or more independent states, It also deals with the resolution of mutual water disputes
Inter-state hydro politics
This type of politics deals with water disputes between different provinces or states of the same country and formulates policies to resolve them through mutual negotiation and agreement between the parties.
The global politics of water
This type of politics describes the interactions between governments, non-government organizations researchers, and other actors that determines how and whether water management issues are addressed.
Distribution of water:
Distribution of water has always been an issue throughout the human history. This problem arises because the world’s natural freshwater resources available for human use are more scarce than is generally assumed. Water scarcity has two important aspects.
- The first aspect has to do with the development-underdevelopment. Water resources may be abundant in certain areas, but water cannot actually be utilized because of a lack of financial resources for infrastructural investments. The structural causes of this phenomenon lie within the realm of the political economy of underdevelopment.
- The second aspect pertains to the mal distribution of freshwater resources per se, be it in the form of rainfall, surface runoffs, lakes or aquifers. Here the inequality in access to water is determined by geographic and climatic conditions. Natural realities seldom coincide with political conjuncture, and as in the case of all natural resources, certain political units in the world are more or less endowed with water resources depending on the spatial location of their territory.
Global Maldistribution:
The global maldistribution is related to the climatic zones of the earth. There are deserts on the one hand, rain forests on the other, and everything in between all claimed by sovereign nation states
Regional maldistribution:
Regional maldistribution is a common feature where most of the available water resources in an arid or semi-arid region are concentrated in the territories of one or a limited number of states in varying amounts.
Domestic maldistribution:
Domestic maldistribution is also very common, due to geographical diversity within countries, especially the large ones.
Water has always been the conflict between the shareholders. When a dispute arises over water resources peace cannot be achieved without resolving the question of water right Many countries in the world are involved in water conflicts. More than 50 countries in five continents might soon be caught up in water disputes unless they move quickly to establish agreements on how to share reservoirs and rivers. Water disputes between states bring regional tensions, delay economic development and activate the risks of causing more conflicts
South Asia
South Asia is one of the regions where water conflicts between and inside the nations are at its peak. During the British colonization of the area, there were water disputes among and between provinces and the princely states. The partitioning of the country (into what are now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) resulted in redrawing of the political boundaries, giving rise to new disputes over water rights. Pakistan and India have been involved in a water conflict over the Indus basin since the end of British colonization of the Indo-Pak
Subcontinent
The partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, created a conflict over the water share from Indus basin. The water of Indus River begins in the Himalayan state in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The ownership of this state is disputed between India and Pakistan since 1947. Because of the dispute over political land boundaries, land which included the Indus River, both countries had been involved in a conflict since the conclusion of the Indus Water Treaty
Indus water treaty:
After the eight years of negotiations on Indus Basin water dispute, both the Governments of Pakistan and India came to an agreement and signed a water sharing treaty in 1960, named the Indus Water Treaty. It was signed with the help of the World Bank. This treaty divided the use of rivers between the two countries. Pakistan obtained exclusive rights for the three western rivers; the Indus, the Chenab and the Jehlum and India retained rights to the three eastern rivers; the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutluj
The Indus Basin is the largest river basin in Asia with an approximate area of one million square kilometers. It is the major source of water in the region of India and Pakistan. It extends over four countries in South Asia including China in the north-east, India in the east, Afghanistan in the northwest and the vast majority of the plains of the Punjab, the Sindh and the KPK (Khyber Pakhtukhwa) province in Pakistan. Fifty six percent of the Indus Basin is located in Pakistan and covers approximately 70 percent of the country area
Pakistan:
Water crises is the biggest challenge that is faced by Pakistan. Pakistan since its existence has been facing water disputes created by its rival country India
Root Causes of Pakistan’s water crisis:
Pakistan is a developing country, it is facing many problems, among them water scarcity is the biggest problem. With the passage of time, this problem is becoming more serious Apart from the lack of attention of the governments, there are many factors that are reinforcing the seriousness of this problem. Following are some of the main factors that lead to water problems
- Dependance on single river system
- Low water productivity
- Overuse of ground water
- Lack of drinking water
- Rapid population growth
- Climate changes
- Poor water management
- Water pollution
Dependance on single river system:
Country’s dependence on a single river system is extremely risky. Indus river system accounts for 95.8% of total water needs of Pakistan
Low water productivity:
Pakistan is ranked among the countries with lowest water production.
Overuse of ground water:
Pakistan is among the few countries where the government’s grip on public affairs is not so strong. People are completely free to use the ground water. Everyone uses ground water according to his wish. Till date no law has been made regarding this, so a huge amount of water is wasted.
Lack of drinking water:
Country’s cities are already facing problems of erratic supply of piped water. Only 36% of population has access to safe drinking water
Rapid population growth:
The biggest challenge to deteriorating water resources and decreasing per capita water availability in Pakistan is over population and urbanization. Between 1192 and 2020 Pakistan’s population has been increased by 2.6 times total water use in Pakistan increased by 0.7% per year between 2017 to 2020. This has resulted in an increase in pressure on water resources. If population remain increasing the water withdrawal to water resources ratio may exceed 100 percent in coming decades.
Climate changes:
Pakistan is among the list of 10 most vulnerable countries of the world to climate change. The country is already facing threats to water resources like the change in monsoon patterns, rising temperature, receding glaciers, recurrence of floods and droughts. Climate change may decline aggregate water flows in the future. Being dependent on glacial and snowmelt which are highly sensitive to climate change, Pakistan is going to face serious water deficiency in future
Poor water management:
Over 80 percent of country’s water resources are used in agriculture. The crops which require a large volumes of water include rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton which contribute only 5 percent to GDP
Water pollution:
Every year about half of the two million produced wet tons of human excreta go on to pollute water in Pakistan. As a result of which water borne diseases are spreading. About 60 million people are suffering from one or more diseases associated with inadequate provision of drinking water and improved sanitation.
Water Distribution Issue within Provinces
A growing scarcity of water resources in the country is increasingly becoming a source of conflict among provinces over the distribution of available water. Canal water is distributed among provinces under the 1991 Water Accord water is divided among the provinces, with about 48 percent going to Punjab, about 42 percent to Sindh, 7 percent to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and about 3 percent to Balochistan. A mechanism has been defined for the excess supply of water. However, the accord does not introduce any apportionment for shortages. Lesser quantities of water in various months have caused water conflicts between the province
Provincial Point of View on Water Right
The four provinces of Pakistan differ each other and have their own stance regarding the distribution of water. The following section of the paper presents the point of view of each province. Of the four provinces water issue is salient between Indus upstream Province of Punjab and downstream Sindh.
Sindh Point of View
Sindh accused Punjab of “water theft” that 16000 cusecs of water between Taunsa and Guddu had been stolen. Sindh always objected that it had received less water than its entitlements under the 1991 accord. At present flow to water is insufficient to meet minimum requirement for Sea intrusion. Consequently sea water now comes up 100km in land and caused the increased salination of lower Sindh agriculture land, with subsequent adverse effect on ecosystem. Another problem is the shrinking of the Indus basin mangroves forest, which is dependent on fresh water supplies. Once the sixth largest in the world, has reduced in size by 38% during 1977-90
Baluchistan Point of View
The main constraint in development of Baluchistan is the scarce water availability. Indus Water Accord allocates only 3.87 maf water which is hardly 3.55 of the total
perennial flows in the system. The present canal capacities in Baluchistan are not adequate to utilize. Only 3.05 maf could be utilized rest of the areas depends upon
minor perennial and non-perennial flood irrigation system for fulfilling needs of all sub sectors that is domestic, agriculture and mining. As a lower riparian of Sindh, Baluchistan accused that Sindh is using its share of allocated water due to inadequate irrigation canal system. Two of Baluchistan’s canals, namely pat Feeder and Kirthar, take off from Guddu and Sukur barrages ,Sindh usually released less water in to the two canals than their due share
Khybar Pakhtunkhaw Point of View
Khybar Pakhtunkhaw (K.P.K) objected that Punjab’s canal system was 150 years old and quite wasteful; its wastage was more than 50 percent in its conveyance
system before reaching the field. The major changes in agricultural practices required more water in a demand-base system. So it became more difficult to maintain the condition of rigid regime flow of non-silting in the canal by carrying fixed designed discharge, this silting of canals causes further shortage of water. Drain system is old and now it has blocked. The canal and drainage Act of 1887
was exclusively ignored and drainage of land started seriously creating problems of salinity and water logging. This huge wastage of water should be avoided by implementing water management, so that the country is neither water-stressed nor water-scarce. If this
is accomplished, it would then be possible to irrigate a barren area of about 25 million acres of land to feed the growing population
Punjab Point of View
The Punjab irrigation system provides life line for agricultural economy of province. Punjab accounts for 80% of Pakistan agriculture production. Over 90% of the agricultural output in Punjab comes from irrigated land Water demand is increasing day by day in Punjab on account of growing population, increasing urbanization and industrialization. So, it is higtime Pakistan built new reservoirs. The construction of Kalabagh should be top priority. Huge wastage of water should be avoided by improve irrigation
efficiencies
Hydro politics on Kalabagh Dam:
The KBD project is a hydroelectric project, proposed by the government of Pakistan, which has been planned to be built on the Indus River. The Kalabagh consultants were appointed in 1982, to produce the fully developed project proposals on the KBD. The project team was asked to complete the detailed design and contract documents in preparation for the implementation stage. This project was supposed to be implemented with assistance from the United Nations Development Program, supervised by the World Bank, for the client Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan. When the proposal was published, different provincial governments started to oppose the project. In this way, the KBD Project has aroused controversy between different provincial governments and the federal government of Pakistan from the start and still no consensus has been reached for this proposed project.
SOLUTION AND THE WAY FORWARD
Pakistan needs to take following measures to deal with water crisis.
Political Ownership of the Challenge
The entire political leadership and relevant stakeholders need to take ownership of the challenge of Pakistan’s water crisis and declare their intention to address it.
“First of all, Pakistan’s leaders and stakeholders need to take ownership of this challenge and declare their intention to tackle it. Simply blaming previous governments, or blaming India, for the crisis won’t solve anything” says Michael Kugelman.
Policy, Reforms and Governance
There is a need to fill the vacuum between policies, reforms and their implementation by devising a detailed implementation plan. “We do not have a water crisis; we have a failure of governance with regard to water issues,” says Dr Ishrat Hussain. The government needs to institute a major paradigm shift that promotes the more judicious use of water. This will include water infrastructure maintenance, water conservation technologies and awareness-raising.
Recycling of Wastewater
The policy-makers need to rethink water policy by urging recycling of wastewater as is done in Israel and Singapore based on the principle of private sector participation and optimal pricing of water
Increase Agricultural Efficiency
It is key to leverage technology for efficient water utilisation, however, it is also crucial to choose the right innovation so it delivers the desired solution that is needed. Farmers can use precision watering rather than flooding their fields. One of the biggest advances in modern agriculture is drip irrigation. Similarly, water-intensive crops as sugar cane and rice may be replaced with lower water demanding crops.
Water Metering/Pricing
Another solution is making the metering of water compulsory for all users from domestic, agriculture or industrial units. Once the amount of utilisation is known, it enables better planning and management of the precious resource. The current pricing regime offers little incentive to consumers to conserve water. Pricing may be linked with income levels along with several other dimensions. Increasing the cost of water consumption will not only push consumers to use water more judicially but also generate sufficient revenues for the maintenance of infrastructure and water-conserving technologies.
Conclusion
The summary of all the above discussion is that nature has blessed human with many blessings. Although it is the basic right of every person to use these blessings found in the universe, it is the first duty of every person to value these blessings and protect them properly. Similarly, governments also have the responsibility to make laws to preserve these gifts of nature and pass them on to future generations.
REFERENCES
Abubakar, S. M. 2019. “How Pakistan Wastes its Water.” Dawn, 12 March.
Ashraf, M. 2018. “Water Scarcity in Pakistan: Issues and Options.” http://pcrwr.gov.pk/wpcontent/uploads/2021/07/Water-Scarcity-in-Pakistan-Issues-and-Options-May-18.pdf.
Baloch, S.M. 2018. “Water Crisis: Why is Pakistan Running Dry?” DW.COM, 7 June.
Bhutto, F. 2020. “Pakistan’s Most Terrifying Adversary is Climate Change.” The New York Times, 29 September.
Biswas, A.K., C. Tortajada and P. Rohner. 2018. GOP (Government of Pakistan). 2009. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)-II. Islamabad: Ministry of Finance.
———–. 2016. Economic Survey of Pakistan