PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday announced plans to boost the country’s water storage capacity, citing India’s attempts to weaponize water.
During a visit to the National Emergencies Operations Centre (NEOC), he pointed out that an international court (Permanent Court of Arbitration) announced a supplemental order, emphasizing that India had no authority to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty unilaterally. However, the enemy has certain evil designs against Pakistan and wanted to take steps against the waters treaty and with this in view the government had decided to fast-track the non-controversial water storage capacity projects under Water Accord with the provinces. The Prime Minister directed that weather warnings and calamity threats should be regularly issued through SMS and phone messages in collaboration with PTA.
Pakistan being an agrarian country, water security should have been a priority for every government but unfortunately we missed opportunities to build dams that could not only have added to the storage capacity but also contributed towards the cherished objective of providing affordable electricity to all categories of consumers. Indian designs, as highlighted by repeated threats of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his senior cabinet colleagues, have surely added a new dimension to the challenge but there was always a need to construct more water reservoirs in view of the fast depleting capacity of the existing dams. Pakistan is guilty of criminal negligence in this regard as evident from the fact that no major reservoir was constructed after completion of Tarbela Dam, way back in 1976. There have been discussions and plans for constructing various dams including five major reservoirs as part of the vision to overcome growing water and energy shortages and timelines were also announced for their completion but these projects have not moved much beyond partial acquisition of land and instead controversies cropped up because of various factors like vested interests that want Pakistan to remain backward.
The initial cost of these projects was estimated at $16 billion and the country was required to allocate $2 billion annually for building dams but it is because of inaction that the cost has increased tremendously and their financing is now considered a big challenge. However, water security has now become a question of life and death for the agri-based economy and the country will have to allocate necessary resources for the purpose. As Indian designs are posing new threats to the issue of water security, there is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive but workable programme for building all feasible dams without loss of further time. There is indeed urgency as India has announced its intentions to stop every drop of water meant for Pakistan under the Indus Basin Treaty. Of course, it will take India several years to be able to implement its threat effectively but time waits for none and the country must prepare to address the challenge besides contesting the case legally. In view of sensitivities of the provinces about the water issue, as underlined by the aggressive political campaign unleashed by some lobbies against canals project in Punjab, all the provinces should be taken on board right from the concept to implementation. The plan should also include proposals and projects for conservation of flood water as we can no longer afford the luxury of discharging this precious resource to the sea. A properly conceived plan can help mitigate situations like the one we witnessed in Swat and other parts of the country where at least 49 people lost their lives. Instructions of the Prime Minister about prior warnings about weather conditions are relevant but more important is the need to have a fail-proof rescue and relief mechanism to save lives. It seems provincial disaster management authorities are not fully and properly prepared to undertake emergent rescue operations and this aspect should be addressed on priority.
