Umar Agha - OnEarth Magazine, from NRDC

Pakistan's Water: Domestic Steps

Pakistan can do a lot domestically to use water more efficiently, as well as improve the quality of the water that it uses. The quality of groundwater and surface-water is low and is further deteriorating because of the unchecked disposal of untreated municipal and industrial wastewater and excessive use of fertilizers and insecticides. The pollution levels are particularly high in and around major urban centers, due primarily to the discharge of hazardous industrial wastes including persistent toxic synthetic organic chemicals, heavy metals, pesticide products and municipal wastes, causing widespread water-borne and water-washed diseases.
Water quality monitoring and information management is lacking as no consolidated effort has been made in the past to monitor the quality of drinking water at the national level. As a consequence, no comprehensive data set is available on the quality of drinking water. Different organizations - including the Water and Power Development ...read full post

Comments (0) | November 18, 2009
Pakistan's Water: Domestic Issues

My research on Pakistan's water security usually includes reviewing academic and governmental literature on the issue, but I also try and keep up with recent events that are germane. Last week, an interactive session called "Pakistan's Water Sector Strategy and Alternative Strategy to Resolve Critical Water Issues" was organized by the Pakistan Network of Rivers, Dams and People (PNRDP). Mr. A. N. G Abbasi, a prominent water expert in Pakistan who was formerly in charge of the Technical Committee on Water Resources, spoke at length about the various water security challenges Pakistan's current administration is facing.
Along with the problem of water disputes with India, Mr. Abbasi highlighted Pakistan's gross misuse of the water that it did have. Water distribution amongst Pakistan's provinces remained a point of contention, highlighting the lack of legal framework when it comes to environmental problems in most developing countries. The Minister of Irrigation of ...read full post

Comments (0) | November 10, 2009
Pakistan's Water Security: Ground Realities

Pakistan and India point a lot of fingers at each other - usually blaming the other for instability in the region through state-sponsored terrorism. In most cases, the blame game is based on facts: it's no secret that both countries have supported "terrorist" groups (one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, especially when considering the disputed territories of Jammu & Kashmir, through which most rivers flow) to wield greater influence in the region. Often, this cycle is spurred by retaliatory attacks, which in turn induce retaliatory attacks, and the cycle continues; it is impossible to determine "who started it" and it is inconsequential at this point anyway. The media sensationalizes these allegations and grave issues like water security often fade into the shadows.
Pakistan's water disputes with India cannot be considered in isolation - they must be viewed within the larger context of geopolitics between the two countries. Since ...read full post

Comments (0) | November 3, 2009
Thoughts on International Justice vis-à-vis Pakistan’s Water

What does a country do when it is confronted by an aggressive neighbor that can potentially control its water supply by playing the role of the upstream riparian? Unfortunately, when dialogue is not constructive and the policies of the upstream riparian are becoming increasingly about a strategic advantage, options are very limited. Pakistan is faced by such a situation with its neighbor, India. Though the Western media likes to highlight problems in Pakistan such as terrorism and the (unfounded) concern that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is in danger of falling into the wrong hands, India's often menacing policies, state-sponsored terrorism and denial of Pakistan's right to free-flowing water goes largely ignored. With this post, I hope to shed some light on the reality of the situation.

Early on, Pakistan realized that unless a legally binding international treaty is made with India, water wars would be inevitable. The World Bank was soon involved and the Indus Waters ...read full post

Comments (0) | October 28, 2009
Pakistan's Water Dispute with India, part 2

In my last blog post (http://www.onearth.org/node/1492), I mentioned that the presence of all Indian projects - except one - on waters before they enter Pakistan is allowed by the Indus Waters Treaty; the real problem was the design of the projects. The one project whose very presence is problematic under the Treaty is in Kishenganga, on the Neelam River, in Indian-controlled Kashmir. This dispute involves a diversion by India of one tributary to another. This is an outright violation to terms under the Treaty.

Geologically, this project is very complex as it will have a 27km long tunnel to divert water from the Neelam River from its natural course. The tunnel will be fed water from a 103 meter high reservoir on the river, the presence of which threatens to submerge the entire Gurez Valley, causing immense ecological damage.

The Indian defense is that through the proposed Wullar Barrage project (which will be discussed in another post), ...read full post

Comments (0) | October 28, 2009
Pakistan's Water Dispute with India, part 1

Before certain rivers enter Pakistan, they pass through territory administered by India, making Pakistan understandably nervous about any Indian construction on these waters. With the exception of one project (which I will talk about in a later post), none of the projects being proposed by India (or constructed to date) involve consumptive use of the waters; instead they are all run-of-the-river plants in which the water continues straight through the project. Pakistan's primary objection to these plants has not been to their existence but to their design, because the design affords India considerable control over Pakistan's water supply. This was the fundamental dispute with Baglihar, a massive Indian dam erected on the Chenab River before it enters Pakistani territory.
The officially stated purpose of the project, which cost an estimated $1 billion, is hydroelectric power generation (it is also known as the "Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project"). The design of ...read full post

Comments (2) | October 18, 2009
Dwindling Water Security in Pakistan

Water is very precious. This may come as a surprise as over 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by bodies of water and 60% of the human body is made up of the stuff. The amount of water we can currently harness for civilization to survive given current technology, however, is extremely little: about 3% of Earth's water is fresh, and an even smaller fraction is readily usable (the rest is in ice caps and glaciers, which may melt at an accelerated rate due to climate change and cause dramatic changes in the availability of water). As populations continue to increase, so does water stress, as there are simply a greater number of people in need of a limited resource; the word "need" is key here, as civilization cannot survive without a constant and ample water supply, making conflict over water inevitable.
The sustainable use, planning and development of water resources is a global challenge of enormous proportions: the consequences of poorly distributed water will ...read full post

Comments (3) | October 11, 2009