Ticking time bomb

Focus

Water scarcity seems to be fast becoming the topmost challenge for Pakistan. It has the potential to threaten food security of the country provided timely and required steps are not taken to stem the rot.

The country has already been declared water-stressed several years ago.

The country is reported to be facing drought like situation during the sowing season for Kharif crops. Sowing seasons for Kharif crops like cotton, rice and maize starts from April to June and lasts until October-December in different parts of the country.

Over 40 percent water shortage was witnessed at the start of the sowing season last month and it is feared that the shortage would cross 50 percent reduction mark by the close of the season, meaning that provinces would have to face big cut in supplies according to their shares.

The move has already triggered protests from the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP). The party’s chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has already sensitised the issue in his election rallies in his power base-Sindh.

Speaking to his supporters in Larkana, he blamed the central government for depriving his home province of its due share and accused the Indus Water System Authority (IRSA) of showing discrimination against Sindh. He demanded that the water shortages should be shared equally by the provinces.

“PPP will continue to protest against IRSA’s discrimination and federal government’s callous attitude. Water shortage needs to be shared equally and divisive policies must end. We argue with India for downstream water rights but then deprive other provinces of the same,” he said.

However, the IRSA advocates for distribution of the shortages among provinces proportionate to their share. At present, Sindh currently faced 53 percent of the shortfall and Punjab 47 percent of the reduction.

With dry spell likely to prevail in most of the country until mid-June, all hopes for water availability are now pinned on monsoon rains that are likely to start from mid-June.

Drought is not a new phenomenon and it has occurred many a times during the 70 years history of the country and before that too. But the main concern is that the current drought spell is mainly caused by the changing weather patterns and exacerbated due to many manmade factors.

It needs the government and other stakeholders to find a scientific solution to this issue, and it necessary, a regional approach should be adopted as other regional countries are also facing the same challenges.

However, given the persistent hostilities between the two regional giants – Pakistan and India – there are dim chances of the regional countries arriving at a consensus to address it.

India, which itself faces these challenges, is trying to arm twist its neighbours, particularly Pakistan in this regard.

India’s high-handed approach could be gauged from the fact that its Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 330 megawatt Kishanganga Hydroelectric project in Bandipora district of held Kashmir, despite protests from Pakistan.

Pakistan expressed its serious concern over the Indian move terming it a violation of the 1960s World Bank’s brokered Indus Waters Treaty Accord.

According to Pakistan, India’s intransigence over the controversial project threatens the very sanctity of the water treaty.

Given its size and population, the water challenges for India are much more serious and severe than Pakistan. It is advisable for India to cooperate with the regional countries particularly Pakistan to tackle this challenge.

India has been trying to bully Pakistan over the water issue since Modi’s radical government came into power.

This situation needs Pakistani policy makers to formulate a well thought-out policy to meet these challenges domestically as well as regionally.

But with general elections just a few months away, there is hardly any serious effort by any of the stakeholders to devise a workable policy in this regard.

The government has recently approved a water policy and it may get it approved from the parliament but its implementation is likely to wait until an elected government comes into power after the elections.

The PPP might have agitated on the issue, but it did so strictly in a domestic and provincial context, and did not adopt a national approach to address this vital issue.

Construction of new water reservoirs has long been overdue in order to stop waste of huge amounts of water. Pakistan saw major and devastating floods a few years back, however, there has hardly been any serious attempt by either PPP or the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) governments to devise an effective policy

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which launched a major campaign to plant trees to stop soil erosion, too has not taken any noticeable stop or formulated a policy to address the emerging challenge which was becoming a ticking time bomb that could explode any time if not properly addressed.

Former military ruler general Pervez Musharraf did try to revive the issue of Kalabagh dam but it was a political stint rather than a serious and genuine effort to address the country’s long running water issue.

This issue seems to have fallen victim to political point-scoring as the PML-N’s new president Shahbaz Sharif in a recent visit to interior Sindh effectively ruled out the possibility of evolving a consensus on the Kalabagh dam issue, by saying at a public meeting that “Kalabagh dam could be sacrificed for a hundred time for the sake of Sindh”.

Successive governments in Pakistan have failed to face the water issue in an effective manner. Lack of public awareness too has compounded the problem.

There is a dire need for launching an awareness campaign throughout the country to sensitise people about this vital commodity, and to encourage them to stop wasting this precious natural resource.

The central as well as provincial governments along with non-governmental organisations should create awareness to mitigate water losses. They should also take effective measures to stop water theft.

Time has come for the government as well as the people to deal with this issue on war-footing.

Water conservation, construction of new dams etc are undoubtedly major issues, and we need to restructure our entire water management policies to make them compatible with the needs of the 21st century.

In future, the wars will be fought on water and it is better we equip ourselves with all required weapons to fight this war effectively.

We can no longer push the water issue under the carpet for the sake of political expediencies. Time has come that we take this issue head-on which has the potential to become a full monster.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Islamabad