The concept of water security in each irrigation system in each country is different. Water scarcity is the first sign to pay attention to water security. Security of water can be handled to avoid wastage in the context of how one manages water, how one uses it, and how efficient is the irrigation system. The use of water through the process of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management contributes to water saving and a measure to achieve water security. Moreover, if the source of water and the catchment area extents to more than one country, then water rights are to be protected through Treaties to ensure water security.
Efficient canal irrigation system to contribute to water security
The Indus Basin Canal Irrigation system (IBCIS) consisting of thousands miles network of canals and a million miles of watercourses was originated and designed by the British Irrigation Engineers in 1847, 165 years ago. It is the largest contiguous canal irrigation system in the world providing irrigation facilities to a command area of about 38 million acres. The colossal canal water infrastructure serves as the spinal cord of the country’s economy. The rigid canal design in the Indus Basin was based on empirical formula for conditions then prevailing. The canal was designed for a fixed discharge, for an assumed agricultural data, with Kharif Rabi ratio of 1:2, with the purpose to equate the fixed canal discharge, with the Rabi and Kharif crops water requirements.
Engineer Lacy, an Executive Engineer developed the design for alluvial soils in the Indus Basin with the concept that the earthen canal should neither silt nor scour its bed, but to stay in regime. With the development of agriculture and increased cropping intensity and cropping pattern consuming more water, requires a fluctuating discharge, the regime conditions in the canal are therefore not possible to maintain, as canals silt, and its annual silt clearance has become ritual. Deposited silt in the canal bed reduces the canal capacity to carry water. This creates shortage of water. All these deficiencies indicate canal modernization to save water wastage. This created incompatibility between the fixed canal discharge, and the crop water requirements. This causes either shortage of water or excess water. Both conditions are undesirable. It therefore needs modernization to meet present day crop water requirements and save about 45 to 50 maf of water wastage. This would contribute to water security besides meeting crop water requirements in time and in proper dozes. For building modern canal irrigation system, its design and operation is the collective job of irrigation and drainage engineers, agronomists, soil scientists, agriculture expert and managers and policy makers.
Wrong partition of the Country created water insecurity in Pakistan
It is very unfortunate that after the partition of India, the water security in the Indus Basin canal irrigation system has been subjected to great jeopardy and insecurity because of threat from India who built dozens of dams and stored large quantity of water, as the source of water for Pakistan from the six rivers, namely the Indus, Jehlum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlege and Bias originate from the disputed Indian occupied Kashmir and waters of all rivers is controlled by India. The water scarcity is therefore created due to wrong partition of India as Kashmir-- the source of water to Pakistan was given to India, ignoring the hydrological unit of Pakistani rivers.
Resolving conflict through Indus Waters Treaty
In the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960, the three Western Rivers, the Indus, Jehlum and Chenab were allocated to Pakistan and the three Eastern Rivers Ravi, Sutlege and Bias irrigating area of East Punjab in Pakistan went to India. Till 1947, East Punjab of Pakistan was irrigated from the three Eastern Rivers and on partition of India the water supply to East Pakistan was diverted by India.
To compensate the deprived area of East Punjab of Pakistan of its perennial water rights, the IWT provided two ‘time-based’ storage water reservoirs by building Tarbela Dam on the Indus, and Mangla Dam on Jehlum River. These ‘time-based’ reservoirs at Tarbela and Mangla are rapidly silted up by 6.5 maf. There is no replenishment for the lost storage created under the IWT. This loss of storage turned the IWT inefficacious. This has created great insecurity of water in the Indus Basin of Pakistan. The fact is that ‘time-based’ storage water cannot be equated to the perennial water. This unequal distribution has created conflict as Pakistan water is usurped by the upper riparian--India. The IWT binds Pakistan and India not to affect each other water rights. The silting of reservoirs by 6.5 maf has adversely affected Pakistan’s water rights as it created shortage of water and water insecurity for unjust sharing of water. This deprivation renders the IWT ineffective as Eastern Punjab of Pakistan is deprived of its perennial water rights that it enjoyed for centuries. It therefore needs Replenishment of storage water or restoring water supply by India to East Punjab of Pakistan from Eastern Rivers as was till 1947-- the date of partition of India. In this case, it is India that created insecurity of water.
“The Treaty under section XI (3) provides “The rights and obligations of each party under this Treaty shall remain unaffected by any provisions contained in by anything arising out of the execution of, …” The Preamble states “The two Governments agree to the satisfactory utilization of the waters of the Indus system of rivers recognizing the need, the rights and obligations of each other…” These provisions may be examined by legal experts for safeguarding Pakistan’s water rights.
India created insecurity of water in spite of Treaty by violating it
Besides the shortage of water due to silting that already created water insecurity, India has built 32 dams on the plea to generate hydropower on run-of-the-rivers on Pakistan’s Western Rivers namely the Indus, Jehlum and Chenab Rivers in violation of the IWT creating about 40 maf of gross storage and about 30 maf live storage against the permissible storage of 4.19 maf. This has created another severe water insecurity by India by building dams and acquiring the ability to stop Rabi water supplies amounting to about 36 to 38 maf of water. Pakistan has not observed this serious and major risk and threat of water insecurity because of poor watch on IWT implementation. Surprisingly, this fact is observed and revealed in Senator John Kerry’s report to the US Senate. The report seems to be advance information of likely water war and a warning to avoid it. The excerpt from John Kerry report is:-
“that India has acquired the ability to store enough water to limit the supply of water to Pakistan at critical moment in the growing season”.
More insecurity of water to Pakistan is in the pipe line as India is building another 9 dams on the Indus that will further reduce water supply to Pakistan. This needs to be prevented. India plans to convert the 165 years old established Indus Basin Canal Irrigation System that feeds 180 million people as non-perennial or seasonal by stopping winter supplies for growing Rabi crops. The water insecurity created by India is destructive as Pakistan would not be able to get water to grow Rabi crops to feed its people. This would cause food shortage, hunger, famine, deaths that may lead to water war as India is using water as a weapon of mass destruction. US Senator John Kerry rightly fears water war.
Over and above, India has further planned to build 12 dams on Kabul River in Afghanistan. The Indian objective is to convert the Indus Basin canal Irrigation System in Pakistan into desolate and deserted waste. The building of dozens of dams by India blocking the winter flow is the major risk and threat to water security in Pakistan. Pakistan Government should raise this issue in the security council of UN, as usurping huge quantity of water by India would lead to genocide or war.
Pakistan faces twofold insecurity of water
Water scarcity is overlooked and unfunded in Pakistan. It can fuel dangerous tensions and can destroy regional stability. The looming water shortage affects agriculture and hydropower generation and climate instability all over the world. Pakistan is under the grip of scarcity of water as no Replacement dam is built in 37 years. It has already lost 6.5 maf of storage water in Tarbela and Mangla Resevoirs due to rapid silting. It has not built dams to generate hydropower and is suffering from severe load shedding and is subjected to great insecurity of water as India has created huge storage in occupied Kashmir blocking Rabi supplies to Pakistan.
Pakistan therefore faces external water insecurity. This is besides the internal insecurity of water due to unscientific use of water in its traditional irrigation system and due to floodwater wastage. External water insecurity is from India who acquired the capability to divert more than 30 maf of Pakistan’s perennial water as live water storage. India violated the IWT, the water rights of the lower riparian in Pakistan besides violating the International laws and human rights to use its natural resources of water to survive.
The internal water insecurity is due to lack of finances, poor management, lack of water policy, lack of planning water resources on scientific lines, tendency to stick to traditional waste practices, wastage of about 45 to 50 maf of surface canal water in the 165 years old and obsolete canal irrigation system, wastage of water during floods that varies from 5 maf to 100 maf, the incompatibility of flow in the out dated canal with crop water requirements due to rapid change in agricultural development and the shift to grow higher cropping intensity and cropping pattern for optimum benefit.
The use of saline drainage effluent through tube wells in violation of Canal and Drainage Act
Pakistan is foolishly using injurious saline drainage effluent through tube wells pumping because it is short of about 45 to 50 maf of surface water. This injects about 350 million tons of injurious salts in to the fertile lands each year through one million small tube wells installed by the farmers indiscriminately. There is no concept for Integrated Comprehensive Water Management to save water wastage. The major causes of internal insecurity of water besides lack of finances are:-
* Not modernizing the 165 years old, highly wasteful, incompatible and obsolete canal irrigation system to save about 50 maf of surface water to meet timely crop water requirements in proper dozes to get optimum crop yield. There will then be no need pumping 45 to 50 maf of saline drainage effluent.
* Not building the 35 maf Katzarah Dam on the Indus and the 8.5 maf Guroh Dop Dam on Punjkora River to secure floodwater going waste to sea. Katzarah Dam will be the highest and the narrowest dam in the world. It will be higher than the highest proposed Rogun Dam on Vakhsh River in Tajikistan. It is brought to notice that one maf of water can produce agricultural products worth $ 2 billion.
* Not providing vital component of sub-surface tile drainage to control salinity, sodicity and water logging for keeping soil healthy. There are no means to evacuate soil salinity and maintain salt and water balance by controlling water table. This is because lack of knowledge of the technical definition of drainage. WAPDA executed tube wells based drainage namely, Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPs) and National Drainage Project (NDP) installing thousands of large tube wells to pump injurious drainage effluent and reuse it for irrigation. This is a wrong practice. Moreover, WAPDA large tube wells failed. The use of drainage effluent aggravated salinity in soil. Both mega drainage project failed and abandoned by WAPDA. Presently there is no drainage system, a vital part of irrigation work. The proper drainage is sub-surface tile drainage to physically evacuate salinity out of the area and not reuse it for irrigation. Pakistan has polluted its groundwater turning it into injurious drainage effluent because of wrong drainage planning in adopting tube wells as drainage structure. Tube well cannot evacuate salinity but circulate it. WAPDA ignored to provide the established tile drainage probably it did not know the correct definition of drainage as given below.
“Drainage is the essential part of irrigation works, collecting the water that leached the salts out of soil and evacuating outside the area, as well as separating the ‘reclaimed layer’ from the sub-soil to avoid raising the water table with the resultant retrogression. Drainage prevents rise in water, keeping the later at a depth that will not harm root development and maintain salt and water balance”
*After the failed drainage projects, the farmers came to know of the availability of underground water not knowing that it is the saline drainage effluent. The farmers therefore installed one million small tube wells since then, pumping about 45 maf of saline groundwater for irrigation use indiscriminately. Groundwater is in fact the injurious drainage effluent not fit for irrigation use. The use of saline drainage effluent injects about 350 million tons of injurious salts into the soil each year, destroying fertile soil, invisibly and gradually. It is estimated that the Indus Basin lands under canal irrigation would become infertile to various degree in about 40 years. In such a case, water would be of no use as lands would be rendered useless. Therefore, healthy land and secured water both are equally vital inputs of agriculture that need safeguaqrd.
*About 30 maf theft of water or its unauthorized use is reported between the reaches Chashma to Guddu and from Guddu to Kotri barrage on the Indus. Private tube wells zones are developed in the 14 miles wide bed of the Indus River. This needs investigation, confirmation and control by IRSA and the provinces to save water.
Definition of Water Security
For conditions in Pakistan, water security can be defined to include saving water in the wasteful canal irrigation system. Water security involves the sustainable use, efficient practice of water use and protection of canal system from floods and droughts by building dams and providing water through modern lined canal system to crops as per crop consumptive use in time and in proper dozes. It includes accessibility to the catchment area for watershed management and the enforcement of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management (ICWM) as per its technical definition to use water efficiently, avoiding all wastage. As in case of drainage, no one knew the correct technical definition of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management (ICWM) which is as follows:-
Definition of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management
“Water Management is defined as the combined processes of storage, diversion, conveyance, regulation, measurement, distribution and application of the rational amount of water at proper time and removal of excess water from the farms to promote increased production economically, in conjunction with improvement of agricultural practice and institutional arrangement”. dozes
*The above definition clearly indicates that Irrigation Engineers, Drainage Engineers and agriculture experts including Agronomists and Soil Scientists must plan together the various components of ICWM. In developing irrigated agriculture projects, water experts and agriculture experts are pole apart though it’s a joint work. This needs close cooperation to avoid water wastage and water scarcity besides achieving optimum crop yield per acre.
Unfortunately, Pakistan has not yet framed its water policy. Moreover, there is no coordination between irrigation engineers who can provide proper irrigation and drainage infrastructures for agriculture development, with the agronomists, soil scientists and agriculture experts. It is the job of both the organizations to provide an irrigation system to meet crop water requirements in time and in proper dozes and maintain salt and water balance in the soil by providing sub-surface tile drainage.
Moreover, Flood irrigation be avoided as for as possible and replaced by Sprinkler and Drip irrigation systems as water security measure. The Ministry of Agriculture is silent in this vital requirement as there is no coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Water. The two should be under one Ministry. This is direly essential to achieve optimum crop yield per acre. Presently, both organizations are working separately that is not in the interest of efficient use of water to develop agriculture as water is wasted and crop yield are poor. Efficient use of water is pivotal for water security.
The hydrological system is conceived as a catchment area of a particular river. In case of the Indus and other rivers in Pakistan, their catchment areas extend to two, three or four countries to which Pakistan has no access and cannot carry out watershed management to increase life of its reservoirs.
The primary stakeholders are the Federal Government of Pakistan, the provincial Governments and the owners of land and the farming community. All seems to be inactive. There is no policy and planning of water resources for the future to ensure water security. The Government failed to perceive all that India did to Pakistan in 35 years. India usurped Pakistan’s water but Pakistan has shown no concern.
The ongoing controversies on Water Accord, and on the Indus Waters Treaty, are going on for decades unattended and unsolved.
All this is because of very poor governance, corruption and lack of foresight. There is no proper arrangement to perceive, plan and watch water security for agricultural development. There is no legal and policy framework and institutional structure. There is no one to perceive and determine what is going to happen. Thumb rule and wasteful traditional practices prevails.
For resolving conflicts, no effective system exists. Water is stolen and no action is taken. Water Accord has not been implemented for the last 20 years. Arbitrary changes are made in the constitution of Water Accord in violation of the IRSA Act. This has become the source of dispute. There is no watch on the implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty. There is no planning of water resources, as such, no dams are built for the last 37 years. This negligence resulted in crippling load shedding and devastating floods of 2010. There is no planning for avoiding future floods to achieve water security. The irrigation system is not provided its vital component of drainage to preserve the fertility of land for water use. Water charges are extremely low therefore water projects cannot be implemented. No administrative set up exists to solve more than one dozen water issues of serious nature a threat to water security.
There is great need to remove internal and external water insecurity and their issues to avoid food shortage, famine, hunger and large scale death that may initiate bloody revolution and water war. John Kerry report to the US Senate indicates the possibility of water war in future on the grounds that India has acquired the capability to stop water flow to Pakistan in violation of the IWT, rendering Pakistan unable to grow Rabi crops. Pakistan will feel the destructive impact of the awful calamity of stopping water by India subjecting Pakistan to the torture of hunger and famine. A hungry man becomes a suicide bomber. Similarly, a state subjected to hunger and destruction will attack the aggressor in self defense. John Kerry report is a warning to India and Pakistan to avoid water war and not violate IWT to create water scarcity for Pakistan, and to ensure water security and peace in central Asia.
Copy to;
Secretary Ministry of water and power, Islamabad
Minister for Water and Power, Islamabad
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Prime Minister House Islamabad
The President of Pakistan President House Islamabad
Mr Kamal Majid ullah Special Assistant to Prime Minister, Islamabad
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Islamabad
I have written dozens of papers to all authorities on the development of water, hydropower and agriculture. Routine courtesy is not shown even to acknowledge the letters what to speak of saving the country from looming water disasters. I think we are heading for bloody revolution when famine and hunger hit the people. I beg, please pay attention as the incoming food shedding will not be tolerable. The authorities have not paid attention even to the warning of Senator John Kerry in a report to US Senate fearing water war. John Kerry stressed to avoid water scarcity and work for water security and peace in the region.
Copy to
Chairman IRSA Government of Pakistan Islamabad
It is brought to the notice of Authority that the matter of insecurity of water would hit IRSA hard as Water Accord would be affected or become inefficacious when India holds 38 maf of the Rabi flows to Pakistan. The insecurity of water is a “matter connected therewith the water of the Indus River system and is ancillary thereto” as provided in the IRSA Act Preamble. Therefore, IRSA may initiate steps to safeguard Pakistan’s water distributed under para 2 of the Water Accord by implementing IC Water Management to avoid all wastage as required in para 14 (e) of the Accord. This is vital to counteract the loss of 38 maf of water withhold by India in 32 dams in occupied Kashmir. IRSA may also take up the case with Foreign Ministry for violation of IWT by India with holding 38 maf of Pakistan’s water besides the silting of replacement reservoirs created under the IWT and the need for its replenishment.
Under para 13 of the Water Accord, IRSA is created with the purpose to implement the Water Accord. Therefore whatever hurdles are there, internal and external, IRSA will handle it. IRSA must therefore approach the Government and the CCI to empower it with the necessary administrative, and financial powers to help solve the water issues to implement Water Accord. IRSA demanded 22 maf of water so let IRSA initiate projects to implement paras 2, 4, 6 and 7 of the Water Accord to create 22 maf of water by building dams specially Katzarah as without Katzarah it is not possible to create 22 maf of storage as there are no feasible mega dam sites.
To achieve this purpose, Water Wing of WAPDA should be shifted to Islamabad and work under the directions of IRSA to implement Water Accord. For this reason, Chairman WAPDA was made ex-officio Member IRSA in the Act. There is no sense in assuming that IRSA is only responsible to monitor the distribution of water resource. In view of para 13, IRSA is created to implement Water Accord, therefore IRSA is to “provide for matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto” as the Preamble provides.
Let IRSA ask for necessary help from the Government to do what is required as this is IRSA responsibility. Water Accord distributed 117.35 maf of water against the available of 105 maf, the short fall of 12.35 maf of water was not arranged by building dams since its creation. The confusion still prevails who would meet this requirement unless IRSA cry for it. So let IRSA cry at least if it is not given the required powers.
