Sindh plans to move CCI on water accord

HYDERABAD: Sindh Irrigation Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that the provincial government plans to move the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to address shortcomings of Water Apportionment Accord 1991.

He called for doing away with lacunas of the accord like operation principles of two dams — Tarbela and Mangla — link canals, sharing of shortages and surplus of water flows.

“That’s why we are in process to move to CCI, Mr Shah told Dawn on telephone.

The minister said that he is perturbed over the fact that non-availability of criteria how to fill and empty dams creates problems and said that procedure how to open link canals is not documented.

“Differing opinions over sharing of shortages and surplus create a big difference because Punjab has a different reading of the situation when there is shortage as it always talks of sharing them as per historic usages, he said.

Punjab invokes para-2 of the accord which refers to usages of water between 1972 and 82 but Sindh insists that after criteria of three 10 dailies (allocation for first, second and third 10 days of a month under 14-A and B clauses to reflect seasonal allocations, the historic usage formula gets redundant”, he said.

Punjab always insists on protecting historic usages but Sindh says that shortages are to be shared on prorata basis, said the minister.

“We are ready to overcome shortcomings of the accord and that’s why we will be moving the CCI to discuss operational principles of two dams and link canals as well as sharing of shortages of water.

NEW WATER PARADIGM

Dr Kaiser Bengali, adviser to Sindh chief minister on planning and development, has called for establishing new water paradigm in the country that is centred around water conservation in the wake of climate change.

He said that legal issue could be resolved by sharing shortages but real question pertains to economic losses due to water scarcity in terms of agricultural output which is irreversible.

Talking to this correspondent at a briefing about development works here on Tuesday, he said that Water Apportionment Accord 1991 accord doesn’t properly address the issue of shortages because when it was signed, no one had thought that water crisis of such magnitude would hit the country where, say, 25 per cent of the required quantity of water would be available.

Dr Bengali said: “We need to put ourselves under entirely a new water paradigm to have an efficient use of available water with our focus on conservation and new methods of irrigation”.

According to his evaluation of water situation, recycling of water is not taking place which is otherwise a common phenomenon all over the world but in Pakistan used water is lost. Growers need to adopt drip and sprinkler systems instead of flood irrigation.

He did not oppose Water Accord 1991 nor did he say that it should be replaced altogether but suggested that the magnitude of the crisis involves India and the accord doesn’t address this aspect.

“The next two decades will demand us to establish a new water paradigm with focus on conservations”, he said.

He said it would not be important how water is distributed because it would not be available then. “I am talking of 2050 when no water will be available”, he said.

The aspect of shortages was not taken up (in the accord) in proper perspective because it was not expected in 90s that only 25 per cent of water would be available today. “Shortages are worked when there is 15 to 20 per cent drop in water flows”, he said.

He said that no super floods are seen today which used to be there in every 10 years. Mangla and Tarbela are not completely filled in last decade, he said.

“It is water crisis of a different dimension which was not before us in 90s but now it has to be dealt with accordingly. Today the glaciers are melting and they need to be rehabilitated as per scientific methods. “Water shortage always leads to acrimony but its economic loss is completely lost sight of”, he said.

The real issue is not how to resolve legal riddle but to overcome losses. If we have low agricultural output it can’t be reversed and this should be basic point”, he said.

He said that the accord should be part of a broader water policy as looking at the water distribution alone is a narrow way to look at the water issue. “It can be a continuation of Water Accord 1991 seen in the context of broader water policy”, he said.