Water issues faced by Pakistan
The
alarming water issues that require immediate solutions are, Water shorter, hydro-power shortage,
Floods, rapid silting of reservoirs, preventing salinity in the Indus basin,
one million small tube wells indiscriminately pumping huge ‘saline drainage
effluent as groundwater’ for irrigation use that increase salinity, Water
wastage in the 150 years old, incompatible and obsolete canal irrigation system
requiring modernization, no drainage system to evacuate salinity, undertaking
Integrated Comprehensive Water Management to save water, Water shed Management
of Indus River to control Silting of reservoirs and selecting multipurpose dam
site.
General
issues are;
1.
The Kalabagh Dam
hydraulic design and its dam site created political and technical
controversies. The KBD Consultants recommended 100 days low-level silt sluicing hydraulic design whereas WAPDA,
under the tailored TOR insisted for 50 days restricted mid-level sluicing
design. Status quo prevailed on political controversy for 37 years as no
other dam was considered to be built though feasibility of Basha was ready in
1981, about 31 years ago. Basha Dam will take another 10 years. The result for absence of dam is flood
havoc of 2010, crippling load shedding, water shortage and economic
destruction. More floods are expected in the absence of Katzarah Dam, Guroh Dop Dam and Raised
Fateh Barrage. Kalabagh is not the dam site as its capacity-inflow ratio
indicates. There is best site for raised barrage only three miles upstream of
KBD—with a unique combination of low dam and barrage over it. I prepared unique
substitute for KBD in 1994. It is now resubmitted.
2.
Climate change is
a serious threat. It will affect rivers flow. First more river discharge and in
the second phase less discharge. The building of dams for both phases is a dire
necessary. Plan multipurpose dams to increase greenery. I recommend the 35 maf
Katzarah Dam and the 8.5 maf Guroh Dop Dams. If Kazarah is not built, Pakistan will lose two-third of its storage potential,
waste floodwater and India would assume we do not need water.
3.
Has any Master
plan for flood control, hydropower generation and silt control projects
conceived? If so, name the feasible dams with storage capacity.
4.
Rapid silting of
reservoirs is the greatest danger to the useful life of our limited reservoirs.
There are no dam sites on Kabul, Jehlum and Chenab Rivers. Tarbela and Mangla
gross storage silted up by 6.5 maf that affected IWT replacement storage, the
Water Accord and created shortage of water. It affects agriculture production. Had
any steps for Water shed management taken to reduce silt in the Indus? This is
necessary to increase life of Basha Dam and other on its downstream. The source
of silt in the Indus, according to the study conducted by Dr Attaullah,
appointed by the World Bank, is the
highly erodible soil of Skardu valley. Katzarah will submerge the silt
generating area in Skardu valley, stop silt flow by working as Water shed
Management Dam. Please seriously consider it. Katzarah is recommended by the Government of Sindh,
and the Parliamentary and Technical Committees appointed by the President. In
this respect, I do not agree with the views of WAPDA to ignore Katzarah on the grounds
that Baltic culture will be submerged. The unique technical merits of Katzarah
cannot be ignored. Moreover, the
Government should make decision to build or not to build Katzarah and not WAPDA
after considering its unique and multipurpose technical merits. WAPDA is
habitual in creating controversies from day one. Will WAPDA prefer that
Pakistan should go water scarce, its 18 crores population may suffer hunger,
but Baltic culture should not be displaced? Should 35 maf floodwater go waste,
by not building Katzarah? Can two-third water storage potential be
sacrificed? Which technical flaws
WAPDA has found in Katzarah? This shows WAPDA must jointly work with IRSA at
Islamabad.
5. IRSA declared its storage water requirement as 22 maf.
Which feasible dams would create 22 maf of storage? WAPDA should name the dams without
Katzarah.
6.
Please note that
Akhori Dam is rejected by Dr Pieter Lieftnick as stated in his report Vol-I on
the grounds that it has weak foundation for a dam height of 250 feet, but now
WAPDA has raised its height to 420 feet, increasing storage capacity, involving
huge water diversion in short period, ignoring Dr Lieftnick’s recommendations. Akhori involves earthwork more than two times
of Tarbela Dam. Moreover, Dr Pieter Lieftnic says, to divert huge Indus water
in two months, the height of Tarbela Dam shall have to be raised by 15 feet. Is
that possible?
7.
Water Accord
paras 2, 4, 6, 7, 14 (e) of IRSA Act is
not implemented for the past 20 years. On the contrary about 6.5 maf of gross
storage is lost due to rapid silting. Thus water shortage problem is not yet solved.
Let IRSA and WAPDA jointly work at Islamabad to solve issues.
8.
IRSA is responsible
to implement Water Accord under para 13, but it is given no powers. IRSA should
be given powers. At the same time, WAPDA Head quarter may be shifted to
Islamabad for close coordination with IRSA to implement Water Accord and to replenish
lost storage to revive IWT and remove water shortage. This is why Chairman
WAPDA is made ex-officio Member IRSA. On the expiry of the present
non-professional Chairman WAPDA, the next Chairman should be experienced
irrigation engineer to actively participate and foresee these water issues and
help solving them. I recommend Riaz Ahmad Khan Advisor—the most suitable and
experienced water resource engineer who knows these problems.
9.
Prepare a Master plan to control floods, solve water
shortage, hydro-power shortage, rapid silting of reservoirs, salinity, and
water wastage. It is direly essential to save huge wastage of water in the
canal system that is 150 year old,
incompatible and obsolete wasting about 45 to 50 maf of water. Moreover,
new area is also to be brought under irrigation, preferably
Kachi plain, to meet food needs of the expanding population. It is IRSA,
WAPDA and PARC joint responsibility to avoid delay. I discovered Khajuri Kach
dam site in 1959, started work on it but WAPDA delayed its completion till
2012.
10. It is surprising that the world’s largest contiguous
canal irrigation system is without its integral component of drainage system to control and remove
saline drainage effluent. The canal irrigation system requires protection
against salinity, sodicity and water logging. Drainage is essential part of
irrigation, but is missing. Tile
drainage will protect land from getting infertile otherwise water will be of no use when Indus
basin goes saline waste.
11. Two mega drainage projects of SCARPs and NDP based on
wrong project concept of tube well to evacuate and control salinity failed one
after the other. Later on, these were abandoned. It appears nobody could
conceive the correct technical
definitions of Drainage. Similar is the case of defining Irrigation, Leaching
and Water Management. I can provide recognized technical definitions to
correctly conceive project concept if asked for. Projects should be prepared as
per their technical definitions, adopting correct project concept. Therefore,
it is vital that Food and Agriculture department, WAPDA, IRSA must jointly work
at Islamabad as water is basic input of agriculture.
12. Farmers after knowing that groundwater is available
installed more than one million private small tube wells, indiscriminately
pumping about 50 maf of injurious saline drainage
effluent as groundwater for irrigation. This injurious drainage effluent
injects about 350 million tons of injurious salts each year into the soil
rendering it infertile. The process of salinity is going on gradually and
invisibly. The Indus basin is turning into saline waste. Over and above, the
one million tube wells could be consuming about 2000 MW of power.
13. Lacy canal system has become obsolete and highly
wasteful besides incompatible to meet intensive crop water requirements in time
and in proper dozes. Silting shows canal has failed. It needs modernization by
carrying out integrated comprehensive
water management (ICWM) as per its true definition. The canal system may
need redesigning as per Mannings Formula with silt carrying velocity. Let us
consider If 20 maf of water is saved by lining the obsolete canal system, then, will it be possible to use the saved
water to bring new area outside the command or the saved water used on the
existing crops? Moreover, the one
million miles of water courses be replaced by pipe supply to avoid seepage losses, evaporation losses and theft.
Use sprinkler and drip irrigation methods to save more water. Abandoned the
wasteful and obsolete Warabandi.
This will again save water with in the old command area. How and where to use the
saved water? All water losses are to be removed in view of para 14 ( e ) of the
Water Accord – a legal binding. Therefore, ICWM is necessary.
Indian water threat is hanging over our heads as India
has built 32 water projects.
14. Salinity and sodicity is a great problem. This needs
control by maintaining water table and evacuating excessive salts out of the
area. This requires surface and
sub-service tile drainage. After leaching the soil, evacuating salinity,
reclaiming land, the return drainage effluent from the reclaimed soil would be
useable for irrigation on the downstream.
15. All natural drains in the country are blocked by
encroachments in violation of the Canal
and Drainage Act of 1857. This needs revival. Sindh is a drainage bowl of the Indus basin. I
understand flood water of 2010 and rainwater 2011 is still standing in pockets
as natural drains are encroached.
16. All Pakistan Grand Canal from Chashma barrage proposed
by me in 1961 was ignored. The gravity flow canal would have passed through
Sibi Town, irrigating the whole of Kachi plain, besides other provinces. Kachi
canal from Mithan Kot failed due to poor planning, and now is taken off from
Taunsa barrage still depriving large area of Baluchistan. Is Chashma site not a
great loss forever? Can we do something now?
17. I understand there are huge losses (about 16 maf) due
to theft/unauthorized water use in Indus River from Chashma to Kotri.
Investigate these losses. Indus River needs channelization after building Basha
Dam and Katzarah Dam. It will reclaim about 3 to 3.5 million acres of fertile land
from its 14 miles wide waterway. Grow forest on recovered land.
18. Pakistan is not a member of the UN Watercourses Convention. Why? Get membership. It will
help solving water issues with disputing countries like India and next
Afghanistan.
Recommendations
Such
series of meetings for the first time, have initiated steps to solve chronic
water issues under the
chair of Riaz Ahmad Khan, technical advisor and
other experts from all professional organizations -- a right step to solve
chronic issues. I would also recommend
hiring foreign company, like HARZA for detailed preparation of projects. HARZA
worked in the Indus basin for 40 years as General Consultants to the Ministry
of Water, and WAPDA. Let they work on new projects with IRSA to implement Water
Accord and solve other water issues. Alternately, Chinese Consultants be
considered. The current discussion will prove more helpful if written views are
given by the participants in case where
they disagree. Money or no money, project concept for solving water issues
must be conceived and be ready. There should be Constitutional provision to solve these issues in 5 year plans each
Government. Political parties should include this in their mandate. This
implementation falls under Article 38 of
the Constitution that may further be amended.
It is surprising that Army has banned the issue of GTS maps from the Survey of Pakistan.
Water Resource Engineers cannot plan without the GTS maps. The ban should be
removed from Engineers. They should be allowed to place indents on the Survey
of Pakistan as before. I found GTS maps
as seven wonder of the world. A gift left by the British.
Engr. Fateh ullah
Khan Gandapur Dated May 26, 2012
Former Chairman IRSA
Mobile 0300-5920641.