In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ''''Pushtoon'''' society is still a lot more egalitarian, so the problem is not as pronounced, but it still exists. In general, the landlords would not want the poor to become economically self-sufficient, as that would enable them to challenge the landlords. So, this water issue is also very political in nature, he argued.
Khalid Mohtadullah, former Member Water Wapda and Senior Advisor ICIMOD, said that despite the basin''''s massive infrastructure, the storage capacity stands limited to a maximum of 30 days as of now, and only 11 percent of the identified hydro-potential has been developed. This allows more than 30 MAF on average to flow into the sea unregulated and unutilized, thus limiting the basin''''s capacity to provide minimum required for the Indus delta.
According to him, equally important is the fact that it also limits the basin''''s capacity to regulate flood flows as a consequence of which continued disaster in the wake of climate change, is brought upon. Unfortunately, the storage issue has evolved into becoming highly politicised, to an extent that renders no room to consider several viable options. The next best options however exist and needs to be vigorously pursued to provide much-needed resilience in the system.
According to him, increased storage capacity alone is insufficient to solve the problem. More efficient use of water needs to be targeted. The prevailing productivity per unit of water in Pakistan is among the lowest in the world. Add to this the fact that the irrigated agriculture sector consumes more than the total annual flows into the basin (after adding the groundwater component), it becomes evident that such a gross level of inefficiency in water usage is not sustainable in the face of rising domestic, industrial and environmental demands. Therefore, bringing efficiency in water use, particularly in the irrigated agricultural sector, is at the heart of sustainability for ensuring water, food and energy security in the country. However, this does not imply that water use in other sectors can be sidelined. Those have to be equally monitored as well, to ensure the same level of prudence in water use.
According to the report, inter-provincial disputes in spite of the water apportionment accord continue to prevail on the division of water as per entitlements and sharing of shortages. Punjab and Sindh have been facing such disputes since pre-partition. Sindh and Balochistan have also been facing similar disputes (Khirthar and Pat Feeder Canals), as Balochistan is a lower riparian of Sindh and is unable to utilise its due share of water owing to inadequate infrastructure. The question to be addressed then is regarding the utilisation of the share of Balochistan. Provinces are not entitled to market their unutilized share of water as per the Accord, which is a limitation and may be rectified in the future.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017