Water shortage

The dire consequences of the non-resolution of inter-provincial disputes over water management and distribution are beginning to be visible. The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) met in Islamabad on Wednesday to review the water situation, and its Secretary afterwards told the Press, "A looming calamity is expected during the forthcoming Rabi season."
The country, he explained, has entered into a drought phase because no significant rainfall was recorded during the monsoon season, which has caused critically low water levels in the major reservoirs.
According to him, "the erratic and low inflows are unprecedented throughout the post-Tarbela Dam period." The water level in the Tarbela Dam is reported to be 44 percent lower than its capacity while in the Mangla Dam it is 36 percent less than the normal. At around this time last year, the two dams were nearly full to capacity, and yet the Kharif crop-sowing season saw a water shortfall of 13 percent.
Resultantly, the wheat production declined and the government had to import substantial quantities of this staple food from abroad. With the water situation getting even worse, it is not hard to imagine what its effect would be on this year's Kharif crop if the issue is not addressed through an efficient water management plan.
IRSA is to meet again on September 4 to chalk out a sound strategy to meet the current demands. One hopes for once its feuding representatives from the provinces will realise the gravity of the situation and seek to resolve the issue in a judicious manner.
They must let professional experts manage the task on the principle of equity rather than political considerations.
The IRSA warning must also serve as a wake-up call for all concerned in order for them to work out long-term water management and conservation strategies to deal with the severe water shortages that are being predicted for the future.
According to experts, water scarcity is to become a world-wide phenomenon and a major cause of future conflicts.
More importantly for us, weather patterns are said to be shifting in ways that threaten to create further drought-like situations that have been experienced in parts of this country in the recent years.
The present experience is not then to be regarded as an aberration but a taste of the things to come in the not too distant a future. It is imperative, therefore, that the problem is tackled on an urgent basis.
Some schemes are already under way to prevent wastage through seepage by lining canals and water distribution channels.
That should help. But given the proportions of the problem, a lot more is needed to prevent wastage by launching new conservation projects.
Unfortunately, a lot of time has been wasted in unproductive controversies over the construction of the Kalabagh dam as well as Bhasha dam. These controversies are rooted in a long history of mistrust between the bigger and politically dominant Punjab province and smaller partners in the federation, namely, NWFP and Sindh.
Advocates of the Kalabagh dam in Punjab have a point when they list its advantages such as that its feasibility has already been worked out, that it would have an enormous capacity to store water, and further that it would not deprive the tail-end users in Sindh of their due share in irrigation water. But with the smaller provinces it is a case of once bitten twice shy.
Punjab must, therefore, earn the trust of the other partners in the federation by demonstrating within IRSA that it indeed is willing to support an equitable water distribution formula.
The mutual trust thus created may pave the way for the resolution of the more contentious issues related to big dam construction. In the meantime, the government must concentrate on building small dams wherever possible.
In this respect, our planners can learn some useful lessons from China, which presents a leading example in building small dams.
In fact, there is a strong international movement against big dams, since they are seen as a serious threat to ecological equilibrium. We must pursue all options to prepare for the impending water shortages sooner rather than later.