Dams are a must now: CJ

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar says the water crisis currently facing Pakistan needs to be seriously addressed at this stage lest the nation becomes a victim of drought, floods and climate change.

Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day international symposium titled “Creating a Water Secure Pakistan”, at the Supreme Court on Friday, the chief justice said building new water reservoirs was the need of the hour and if speedy steps were not taken in this regard then the country would be facing severe droughts in next seven years.

President Dr Arif Alvi inaugurated the symposium organised by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in collaboration with the Law & Justice Commission.

The symposium is aimed at sensitising the nation to water scarcity, finding way forward and taking inputs from international and local water sector experts for water management.

The chief justice said the need for construction of more dams was criminally neglected in the last 40 years exposing Pakistan to the current water crisis.

The chief justice believed that the Supreme Court judgment on construction of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams served as a suitable starting point for this concerted effort to reform Pakistan’s water policy. He said being an agrarian economy, water was highly important for Pakistan, particularly when it relied upon a single source — the Indus Rivers and its tributaries — to cater to almost all of its requirements.

He said in addition to exploring novel ways of fundraising for dam construction, it was essential that ‘we formulate and implement an effective, fair water pricing model.’

“It is no longer feasible to allow unfettered access to our most valuable resource with no incentives to check usage,” the CJ said, adding that Pakistan was an agrarian economy and thus required vast quantities of water to bolster its economic growth. He said the key to formulating an effective pricing system was to make sure that we take into account the industrial and agricultural water requirements and do not hinder productivity and people’s livelihoods in pursuit of conservation.

“Our nation now faces a water crisis and according to the World Resources Institute, Pakistan will rank 23rd out of the top 33 most water-stressed countries by 2040”, the CJ said.

He said the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources had opined that Pakistan may run dry by 2025 if the present conditions continued.

“Pakistan touched the ‘water stress line’ in 1990 and crossed the ‘water scarcity line’ in 2005, and relatively little has been done to improve the supply or use of water. Therefore, it is pertinent that Pakistan immediately begin to adopt measures to solve the problems that contribute to water scarcity.”

He said the right to water formed part of the fundamental right to life and thus must be guaranteed to the citizens of Pakistan.

As the custodian of the Constitution, the judiciary must ensure that such right was enforced, particularly considering the grim and precarious situation that Pakistan was in at the moment, he added.

“Thus, recognising the importance of water for preservation of life in Pakistan, the Supreme Court has recently passed a judgment in which we highlighted the risks posed by water scarcity and its security and directed the executive to take all the necessary steps to commence construction of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams,” the CJ said

In this context, the CJ said they had appealed to the nation to make contributions to an account set up specifically for this purpose.

“I must state that we never realized and were absolutely overwhelmed by the positive reception and public response in the form of generous donations for this national cause and the nation’s confidence reposed in and respect extended to the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” he said.

He said the symposium was being held to remind everyone that the water problem facing Pakistan was real and pressing and must be solved at this stage, lest our beloved nation became a victim of drought, floods and climate changes.

“This would help the government to effectively prepare the nation against future hazardous phenomena including droughts and floods,” he added.

“I hope this symposium will provide some nuance as to the benefits and hindrances of these policies, and that ‘we may reach a consensus on how to regulate groundwater extraction.”

The chief justice thanked President Arif Alvi who despite his heavy duties and responsibilities had taken out time to attend the session.

The CJ said the government must be involved in this undertaking and facilitate the formulation of a water pricing system, creating appropriate institutions, enforcing regulations for waste disposal and pollution management, maintaining the momentum of funding for Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams and educating the population on correct, judicious water usage and conservation tactics.

“I am confident that through this symposium, we can reach a consensus on several key policy decisions we need to make in the immediate future,” the CJ said.

Addressing the symposium, President Dr Arif Alvi alarmed the nation that if new water reservoirs were not built, irrigation supplies would reduce to the level what we had before 1960s, when there was no dam.

He said the current water storage capacity of Pakistan had also shrunk to a month due to sedimentation in Tarbela and Mangla dams.

“Pakistan’s water storage capacity is limited to only 30 days which is reducing with time due to sedimentation. In case the new water reservoirs are not constructed, the irrigation supplies would reduce substantially to the level which we had in 60s when there were no reservoirs,” the president said.

He underscored the need for holding negotiations with India to solve the water dispute.

He further said that this situation would create serious water conflicts in the society which can only be addressed by taking timely action. There is a need for building large water reservoirs.

The situation in Tharparkar and Cholistan, where around two million are drought ridden and impoverished residents amplify the human side of this problem. The situation in Tharparkar is a case in example of how bleak the things may become in other parts of the country in case adequate “Water Management Measures” are not adopted.

He thanked Chief Justice of Pakistan for taking the initiative of establishing the “DAM FUND” in which since its inception, a total Rs6.4 billion has already been generated which speaks volumes of the enthusiasm and trust shown by our fellow countrymen.

Pakistan has a National Water Policy. Furthermore, in order to ensure a behavioral change a campaign on water conservation is also required to be developed and launched.

I would urge the Government to adopt world best practices which include but are not limited to; building of water reservoirs and dams, planning for water conservation, water audit techniques, water pricing, enhancing the irrigation efficiency and water productivity, water reuse and recycling methods, satellite telemetry system for equitable distribution, adoption of drip and sprinkler irrigation techniques for water conservation and management.

Pakistan should also make efforts towards safeguarding our “Water Rights”. Issue (s) pertaining to Indus Water Treaty 1960 is one such example. This would require meticulous thinking on our part and engaging with our neighbors to avoid potential conflicts in the future. In this regard, I would urge the foreign office and the concerned stake holders to engage in a constructive dialogue to achieve bilateral and multi-lateral arrangements on trans-boundary water matters.

We need to build a general consensus and a feeling of mutual trust. The concerns of different stake holder should be addressed at the institutional level and also in the Parliament. IRSA Water Accord of 1991 is a good example in this regard.

The ever widening gap between demand and supply of power generation is seriously hampering the industrial growth, as a result, our GDP has been stunted while foreign reserves have depleted.

The power generation sector is badly plagued with circular debt and one of the reasons for this is our over reliance on thermal rather than hydel means of power production. The need of the hour is to shift to efficient and cost effective means of power generation.

Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Lieutenant General (Retd) Muzammil Hussain at this occasion said that in Pakistan minimum storage of fresh water of only ten percent of 145 MAF, which is only 30 day’s carryover capacity much lower than the world average, makes it a water insecure country.

Wastage of annual fresh water worth millions of dollars and large scale de-gradation of resource base due to salinity and sediment is further taxing the limited storage capacity.

Ground water is now being over exploited in many areas and quality is deteriorating leading to a large percentage of salt water.

Whereas large part of Pakistan has good soil, abundant sunshine and able farmers yet crop yields are much lower. The quality of water service and irrigation practices play major role, this must improve phenomenally.

Poor governance and eroding intuitions lead to inequitable distribution of water, poor technical performance and an environment of inter and intra provincial mistrust and conflicts with much serious implications.

But, at the same time, Pakistan has the potential and the treasure of Indus cascade (from Shyok in Gilgit Baltistan to Taunsa in Sindh) that has the potential to generate 41,867 Megawatts and extensive irrigation infrastructures. Exploiting this potential would the country and its economy to a large extent.

Pakistan is fully poised to commence construction of two of its reservoirs. These are Diamer–Bhasha with 272 meter height will provide a reservoir with live storage of 6.4 MAF which will be utilized for supplementing the irrigation water to Indus Basin and hydropower generation of 18,097 GWh per annum with the help of hydropower plant installed capacity of 4500 MW.

Mohmand Dam on Swat River in KP, of 213 meter height will provide a reservoir with live storage of 0.676 MAF which will be utilized for irrigation of new command area of 16,737 acres, water supply to Peshawar, hydropower generation of 2,864 GWh per annum with installed capacity of 800 MW besides mitigating floods in Peshawar valley.