Consequences of not implementing Water Accord

Reference “The Daily News”, news item titled “Controversial Canal” dated 18.7.2010, written by Khalid Mustafa of the Daily The News referring to the views of Engr Fateh Ullah Khan former Chairman IRSA in 1994. I repeat with my opinion what is revealed in the Newspaper.

Water dispute between Sindh and Punjab is century old. No amount of IRSA re-composition to 7 members with Chairman as Supreme Court retired Judge would solve the issue as the dispute is due to shortage of water and for no other reasons. One of the reasons of water shortage is that reservoirs have silted up by 6.6 maf and no dam is built after Tarbela in 1974.

Former President Musharraf gave Federal Member IRSA to Sindh, in addition to its own Member in violation of the Water Accord and the IRSA Act. Federal Member IRSA should not be from any province but it should be from Federally administered area, Gilgit-Baltistan or Azad Kashmir. IRSA Act does not allow to appoint Supreme Court Judge in a technical body. This would show distrust and doubtful integrity of Members. It requires vast technical knowledge. Moreover, it will be in violation of Article 4 of IRSA Act as that requires a high ranking irrigation engineer as Member and Chairman.

The dispute would remain perpetual for which Federal and Provincial Governments are responsible besides all other concerned including IRSA. All failed to implement the 1991 Water Accord as required under para 13, in 19 years. All seems to be inert to implement the basic Water Accord paras 2, 4. 6 and 14 (e). The acting Chairman (from Punjab) was of the opinion that it is not IRSA’s duty to initiate implementation of schemes under these paras. IRSA’s duty is only confined to water regulation and distribution. If the above vital paras of the Water Accord were implemented by the Government, there would have been no water dispute between the two politically powerful provinces.

I as former Chairman IRSA in 1994 (first batch 1993 to 1998), requested the Government to implement these vital paras under para 13 of the Water Accord and reminded the Government but it appears no heed was paid. I am of the opinion that it is IRSA’s duty to initiate implementation of Water Accord under para 13 by advising the Government and inviting the attention of the CCI to implement Water Accord to remove shortage of water and make available 117.35 maf of water as distributed under para 2. 

In Water Accord para 2, 117.35 maf of water was distributed in 1991. At that time, the average available annual rivers flow was 142 maf. The total water requirements of the provinces, and the canals system capacity was 105 maf. Water Accord para 4, provides to store (142-105)= 37 maf of “balance floodwater” that goes waste to sea. If Water Accord would have been implemented and floodwater under para 4 stored, there would have been no dispute between Sindh and Punjab. Sindh and Punjab both have equal share of 37% in floodwater para 4. Each of them would get 13.69 maf of additional water, though Sindh has less irrigated area than Punjab.

Again, water Accord para 6, provides to create storage wherever feasible on the Indus and other rivers in confirmation of para 4 to implement para 2 by making available 117.35 maf of water distributed under para 2. If this water was made available, there would have been no water dispute. Presently water availability is very short. It is only between 90 to 95 maf against 105 maf as required. This shortage can only be removed by building the 35 maf Katzarah Dam otherwise dispute will continue. Basha is no solution to the problem as so far we have already lost 6.6 maf of water due to silting of reservoirs. The entire Water Accord is storage based.

Water Accord para 14 (e), requires to avoid all wastages. This means to store floodwater by dams and to carry out Water Management of the 150 years old, obsolete, wasteful and incompatible canal irrigation system that wastes 50% of 105 maf of water due to seepage and as system wastages.

Regarding Chashms-Jehlum Link Canal (CJLC), built under the Indus Waters Treaty, its basic function is to transfer water from the Indus River to the Jehlum River system to make up the deficiency of water transferred to India under the Treaty. CJLC is not a regular canal. It is basically, a LINK CANAL to transfer water of the Indus to Jehlum River system when there is shortage of water. Link Canal may serve as floodwater channel.

If Punjab do not exceed its share of water, then Sindh should not object to receive its share through CJLC. Sindh considers Jehlum River water belongs to Punjab, and Indus River to Sindh. Baluchistan always suffer at the hands of Sindh. Surprisingly, Sindh is against building dams though paras 2, 4, 6, and 14(e) clearly indicate to build dams to avoid all wastage.

Opening of CJLC was not violation of Water Accord as it is built under the Indus Waters Treaty to transfer water. But the arbitrary action taken by the acting Chairman was against Water Accord and the IRSA Act article 4, as Chairman alone does not constitute Authority by himself alone. Under such circumstances, CCI must be called for to decide. Now the chronic problem of water dispute must be referred to the CCI to under take implementation of paras 2, 4. 6 and 14(e) of the Water Accord at the earliest.  

A permanent solution to remove shortage of water lies in building the unique, multipurpose, 35 maf Katzarah Dam, generating up to 15000 MW hydropower on the Indus 20 miles downstream Skardu Town. Katzarah Dam site was discovered by me in 1962 and confirmed by Dr Pieter Lieftnick of the World Bank in 1968.

WAPDA committed to submit the feasibility report of Katzarah Dam by September 2005 before the Parliamentary Committee under the chairmanship of Nisar Memon. Later on AGN Abbassi also recommended to build Katzarah Dam. Chairman WAPDA is ex-officio Member IRSA. He should be called to explain why this dam appears nowhere even in papers.      

Punjab is warned, as it is sitting on a time bomb of underground saline drainage effluent, pumping 50 maf of injurious saline drainage effluent for irrigating lands through one million small tube wells. Punjab is invisibly, and gradually destroying its lands. Punjab must ask for sub-surface tile drainage and for building Katzarah Dam to replace the use of saline groundwater drainage effluent if it wants to save the Indus basin irrigation system from destruction by salinity.

 I am of the opinion that it is very unfortunate for all that happened in IRSA when Chairman IRSA from KP resigned prematurely. This was followed by the withdrawal of Member Sindh, Member Federal and Member Baluchistan. Member Punjab remained in the field to become acting Chairman. He by-himself decided to open Chashma-Jehlum Link Canal rightly or wrongly under those difficult circumstances. IRSA is autonomous body, It is only the CCI that can direct IRSA or over rule its decision.

All this happened shaking the Government but the water availability could not be increased to settle dispute. No one can settle this dispute unless Water Accord paras 2, 4, 6, and 14(e) are implemented to make available at least 105 maf of water if not 117.35 maf during the keen demand period. Water Accord para 13 requires to implement these paras and others. Who will order or arrange to implement Water Accord is to be decided if it is the CCI or the Federal Government or both? The confusion could not be removed in 19 years since the signing of the Water Accord. The Government may take action to implement Water Accord to remove shortage of water otherwise there seems to be no possibility to end the perpetual water dispute.

It is known that 50,000 cusecs of water is stolen or lost between the reach from Chashma to Kotri. If this is controlled by the provinces, I hope the situation will improve. May inform the CCI.    

All Pakistan Grand Canal from Chashma Barrage to irrigate Kachi plain in Baluchistan

Faulty projects conceived by WAPDA

WAPDA blundered not to irrigate Kachi Plain  from a higher elevation at Chashma Barrage by simply extending Chashma Right Bank Canal beyond Dera Ghazi Khan. This was pointed out by me in 1962 in my Master Plan. The failure of Kachi Canal Project and many other mega faulty projects of dams, irrigation canals and of land drainage to remove salinity, prove that Pakistan is bankrupt in planning and developing of its limited land, water and hydropower resources. All organizations like Planning Division, WAPDA, IRSA, PARC, Ministry of Water and Power, and the Ministry of Agriculture proved, inefficient, inert, and of no worth. So are the four provinces.

WAPDA took off Kachi Canal for Baluchistan from the Indus River at Mithon Kot with a wrong alignment, mostly running as a feeder canal. WAPDA then suddenly abandoned it, as it was not commanding the desired area in Baluchistan. At the same times its cost was raised from Rs30 billion to Rs 70 billion. Prime Minister has then ordered an enquiry.

As a consequence of this blunder, WAPDA shifted the alignment of Kachi Canal to Taunsa Barrage for better command after abandoning the first alignment from Mithon Kot to irrigate the negligible area of Kachi plain in Baluchistan.

Baluchistan is the largest province of Pakistan but has no direct source of irrigation from the Indus. Baluchistan’s small share of water in the Indus water is also stolen by Sindh at Gudu Barrage. Baluchistan always lodges complaints but no one listens.

I prepared a Master Plan in 1962 for the optimum development of land, water and hydropower of Pakistan. During my investigations, I discovered unique 35 maf Katzarah Dam about 20 miles downstream Skardu town. I then spotted a barren vast Kachi plain on the GTS sheet. It came to my mind to build a barrage on the Indus at Chashma site and take off All Pakistan Grand Canal to irrigate almost the entire Kachi plain of Baluchistan besides irrigating lands in Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghaxi Khan. Chashma Right Bank Canal would have been merged in All Pakistan Grand Canal.

Copy of this Master Plan was personally presented by me to the then Governor of West Pakistan, Malik Amir Mohammad Khan Nawab of Kalabagh. The Governor after personally examining the Master Plan, discussed it with the President FM Mohammad Ayub Khan who in turn requested President Kennedy of USA to help. President Kennedy requested the World Bank President who sent a team of experts on water resources development to Pakistan headed by Dr Pieter Lieftnick. This team worked in Pakistan for about 6 years and prepared  three volume report, initiating about 150 mega to small dam sites in Pakistan. Dr Pieter Lieftnick confirmed my discovery of Katzarah Dam in 1968. No body took notice of the Master Plan prepared by me and on the report of Dr Pieter Lieftnick. Hierarchs are not in the habit of reading and pondering.

During my preliminary investigations, I found that it is possible to irrigate the Kachi plain of Baluchistan from Chashma Barrage by gravity flow. The pond level at Chashma Barrage was assumed to be 642 feet. Sibi is at elevation of 440 feet. Therefore, gravity flow is possible to irrigate the highest point of Kachi plain at elevation 440 feet (Sibi town) with canal slope 1 in 10,000. Detailed survey and investigation would lead to the design of the canal.

All Pakistan Grand Canal can irrigate 3 million acres of Kachi plain. The canal can cross Baluchistan border to enter into Sindh. Detailed feasibility report would clear many things.

Kachi Canal in the form of All Pakistan Grand Canal would create irrigation system on the right bank of the Indus River. This will be like mini Indus basin on the right bank of the Indus. The irrigation system will be provided a road in the shape of highway or Motorway joining Karachi with Islamabad. It will be a very short cut from end to end of the country. The Canal would open new areas in the country for development.

WAPDA proved itself to be an inert, and inefficient organization based at Lahore, run by charlatans devoid of professionalism. It is white elephant and is a state with in state, spending money on wrongly planned flawed projects thereby destroys land, water and hydropower development resources of Pakistan, creating water shortage, crippling load shedding, flood havoc, food shortage, destruction of land due to salinity, silting of reservoirs and creating long status quo. There is dire need to shift WAPDA’s head quarter from isolated Lahore to Islamabad where all help is readily available. WAPDA needs to be replaced by the proposed Indus Valley Authority.

I would sum up few facts of WAPDA’s  incapabilities. These are;

WAPDA initially wasted money on a wrong alignment of Kachi Canal, off taking from Mithan Kot, then all of sudden abandoned it, wasting billions of rupees. The project was started at random with no ground survey and investigations. The estimated cost of canal was Rs 30 billion but raised to more than Rs 70 billion. The Prime Minister then ordered enquiry.

After abandoning the Mithon Kot alignment of Kachi canal after wasting billions of rupees, WAPDA shifted its alignment to Taunsa head works. There is no news how far the Canal is competed.

WAPDA badly failed to conceive drainage of saline land by the world’s recognized system of surface and subsurface tile drainage. WAPDA prepared faulty and wrong SCARPs based on tube wells that cannot remove salinity and cannot maintain salt and water balance. It therefore, failed wasting Rs 250 billion.

WAPDA again prepared drainage project to remove salinity of land under the title National Drainage Programme. This was again based on tube wells that also failed wasting Rs500 billion.

WAPDA selected dam site at Kalabagh under a tailored Terms of Reference for the Project Consultants, instructing them to provide Restricted Mid-level sluicing hydraulic design, assuming that it would evacuate silt from the reservoir and not create backwater flow in Kabul River. The consultants disagreed with the suggestion of WAPDA that silt will not be evacuated with restricted mid-level sluicing design and that there will be unacceptable backwater flow in Kabul River. The Consultants advised to provide unrestricted low-level sluicing design to evacuate silt. WAPDA disagreed. The Consultants suggested 160 feet height of the dam due to weak foundation but WAPDA insisted for 260 feet height of the dam. Due to wrong hydraulic design, keeping the Indus on run-of the-river for about 4 months, the project could only produce 1450 MW of hydropower. WAPDA therefore directed the Consultants to install 2000 MW of Thermal Power Plant attached to the dam as its part. Besides these faults pointed out by the Consultants, there are many other serious faults in the project that would be discussed elsewhere.

If Kalabagh Dam was built with a height of 260 feet on weak foundation and adopting  Restricted mid-level sluicing hydraulic design, faced this cataclysmic floods from Kabul, Swat, Panjkore and the Indus Rivers, Peshawar valley would have completely destroyed as repeatedly pointed by me. Not only this, there was extreme danger to the structure of the dam, destroying the net work of barrages and the towns on the bank of the Indus River. Swat River has destroyed Munda head works of the Lower Swat Canal.   

The recent devastating floods is therefore a proof that a dam at Kalabagh would have been a blunder. I therefore opposed the construction of Kalabagh Dam on technical grounds. WAPDA wasted Rs 250 billion on Kalabagh Dam and a period of 30 years in status quo.

WAPDA initiated work on Munda Dam that is only single purpose power dam on run-of-the-river with almost no storage. It cannot control floods. WAPDA missed an excellent, multipurpose dam site at Guroh Dop on Panjkora River with a storage capacity of 8.5 maf discovered by me in 1962 and included in my Master Plan. If Guroh Dop dam was built, it would have absorbed the super floodwater in its huge storage of 8.5 maf. Why WAPDA missed this dam site, located only a few KM on the upstream, is a dilemma. The Government should make inquiry for such blunder so that WAPDA improves its investigation and planning. This shows great negligence and lack of investigation. Guroh Dop Dam and Katzarah Dam were brought to the notice of WAPDA repeatedly but Kalabagh was a hurdle that created long status quo in dam building. Katzarah Dam will control super flood on the Indus River and Guroh Dop Dam will control floods in Kabul River. These two dams will substantially reduce the fury of such floods. Both these dams were discovered by me in 1962 and intimated to WAPDA and others. These dams must be given priority to save human life and property for facing flood due to climate change. 

Dr Pieter Lieftnick rejected Akhori Dam with a height of 250 feet to store 3.3 maf of water. It is an indirect dam to be fed from Tarbela Reservoir through a mega canal with a discharge of 80,000 cusecs across the cross country. The Akhori Dam is rejected by the World Bank Consultants due to serious foundation problems. It involves 3 times the earthwork of Tarbela Dam. More over, the height of Tarbela Dam shall have to be raised from 1550 feet to 1565 feet to feed Akhori reservoir. This may or may not be possible.

Surprisingly, WAPDA appointed local consultants at high cost simply to spend money on consultancy. WAPDA directed the local consultants to raise the height of Akhori Dam from 250 feet to 420 feet to create a reservoir of 7 maf. All this is fantastic with hidden motives to spend money on consultancy. Why money is spent on a project that is rejected by the World Bank Consultants?

WAPDA has again wrongly planned the storage capacity of Kurram Tangi Dam by providing low height of the dam. Kurram River is a silty river, it must have as large a storage reservoir as possible but WAPDA restricted the height of dam to keep the cost of the dam as low as possible ignoring the lifespan of the reservoir. This is wrong.

In a similar way, WAPDA has planned Tank Zam Dam, Daraban Zam Dam, Sheikh Hyder Zam Dam and Choudhwan zam Dam. In short, WAPDA is bent upon destroying land, water and hydropower resources simply due to its inertness, inefficiency and leisurely attitude. WAPDA is spent-thrift achieving no objective. 

Gomal Dam on Gomal River was under construction at Gul Katch dam site. I was posted to the running project as Project Director in 1959. On examination of the dam site at Gul Katch under full execution, after taking over charge of the project, I found to my surprise that the location of the Gomal Dam at Gul Katch was totally wrong as excellent and extremely narrow dam site (85 feet) at Khajuri Katch below the confluence of Zob River and Gomal Rivar was ignored. I discovered the new dam site at Khajuri Katch on Gomal River in 1959 as soon as I took over the charge as Project Director. The dam site is located in the most dangerous area in South Waziristan Agency but I did not care for my safety. I prepared the preliminary feasibility report of the new project after its complete ground investigations. I travelled in the mountain valley called “Dozakh Tangi”, the most hottest and deserted difficult valley.

I stopped the work at Gul Katch dam site and informed the then Chairman WAPDA Ghulam Faruque. He was surprised and visited the dam site with a team of HARZA Consultants and the Yugoslave Consultants. The American Consultants said; “they have 30 years of dam construction experience throughout the world but have never seen such a spectacular dam site”. Similarly, Yugoslave Consultants highly appreciated the new dam site. The work was taken in hand in 1959 and the consultants were ordered by the Chairman to complete it with in three years if possible. Later on, the Chairman left the job due to political reasons. I was also transferred for the same reason. It is surprising to know that WAPDA has not yet completed the Gomal Dam at Khajuri Katch in 50 years. What more the Government wants to know? How things are going to be improved? God bless Pakistan.

WAPDA’s neglect destroyed natural resources of land, water, power thereby creating water, power, food shortages, besides flood havoc and silting of reservoirs

It is found that the Government of Pakistan and its institutions have proved incapable to develop its basic natural resources of land, water, and hydropower creating multiple catastrophes of water shortage, crippling load shedding, food shortage, devastating floods, salinization of land, and rapid silting of reservoirs. Over and above, there was long status quo in building a mega dam on the Indus.

 No dam is built on the Indus after 1974. No water management is done to modernize the 150 years old, wasteful obsolete, and incompatible canal irrigation system that wastes about 45 to 50 maf of water. There is no drainage system to remove and control salinity. Due to shortage of water inter-provincial water dispute is created simply for not implementing paras 2, 4, 6 and 14(e) of the Water Accord that requires dams to be built.

 Pakistan is basically an agricultural country. Its economy and survival depends on healthy land free from salinity, and on controlled river water. Pakistan’s rivers are highly erratic. Therefore, these direly need storage dams to control and regulate river flow. The Indus River is the only river of Pakistan where dams can be built. The Indus is highly erratic as its maximum flow is 1,200,000 cusecs and the minimum flow is as low as 9000 cusecs. Common sense guides to build 35 maf Katzarah Dam on the Indus besides Basha to completely control Indus flow including flood flow and use water usefully. This will control devastating floods in the Indus River causing death and destruction of human beings, land, and avoid losses of crops, houses, cattle and all sorts of infrastructures.

Similarly, there is dire need to build 8.5 maf Guroh Dop Dam on Panjkora River, the main contributory of Swat River about 6 or 7 miles on the upstream of Munda Dam, that is a single purpose power dam with live storage capacity of only 0.6 maf and gross storage of 1.29 maf. If Guroh Dop is built, there will be no furious floods in Kabul River to cause damages in Peshawar valley. This will also reduce floods in the Indus at Attock Gorge.

Similarly, rapid silting of reservoirs is a great calamity. Tarbela Reservoir has lost its storage capacity by about 5 maf in 36 years. The adverse effects of the loss of this huge storage is due to silting that has created inter-provincial water dispute as no dam is built after the implementation of Water Accord 19 years ago.   

Similarly, another crisis is created with India on the rapid silting of Tarbela Reservoir and the loss 5 maf of storage water provided in the Indus Waters Treaty. The storage created on the Indus at Tarbala was Replacement storage. This storage is lost. Therefore, the lost storage shall have to be replenished in the spirit of the Treaty, otherwise the Treaty would become redundant and that it was not the purpose of the Treaty. The lost storage due to silting must be replenished to keep it perennial, as Pakistan has given perennial water to India from the three Eastern Rivers. Who would solve this problem is a question?

WAPDA has failed to select dam sites on rivers to have the best capacity-inflow ratio so that it has a long lifespan. Similarly, WAPDA has paid no attention to watershed management in the catchment area to reduce soil erosion and silt flow to increase the life of reservoirs. WAPDA should select dam site on a river so that the upstream dam serves as watershed management infrastructure for dams on the downstream.

WAPDA has paid no attention to the saline, saline sodic, and water logged lands in the Indus basin that is gradually and invisibly being destroyed by the indiscriminate pumping of about 50 maf of the saline groundwater drainage effluent meant for evacuation. More than 60% of the irrigated lands are affected by salinity and sodicity to various degrees. The world’s largest contiguous canal irrigation system is without its vital component of sub-surface tile drainage to control salinity and keep water table at the desired depth.

It is surprising and shocking that 50% of 105 maf of diversion water into the canal system is lost due to seepage and system wastage. This loss comes to about 50 maf of water or more than 8 times the storage of Basha Dam. This huge loss of water is wasted in the 150 years old, seeping, wasteful, obsolete and incompatible canal irrigation system.

It is again shocking and surprising that Katzarah Dam on the Indus and Guroh Dop Dam on Panjkora/Swat river discovered by me in 1962 are ignored by WAPDA knowingly. Katzarah Dam has 35 maf of storage capacity. It is capable to produce 15,000 MW of hydropower and is a super flood control dam. It has a lifespan of 1000 years. Katzarah’s unique quality is that it will function as watershed management dam to submerge the world’s highly erodible soil in Skardu valley that is the source of silt in the Indus water and the cause of rapid silting of Tarbela and all downstream reservoirs. If Katzarah Dam with storage capacity of 35 maf was built, the Indus River would not have caused large scale human and other losses in the country. Katzarah must be built without further delay as similar floods are expected in global warming. The population of Skardu valley may first be settled around the huge Lake as China did for the Three Gorges Dam in settling 2.2 million people and then work started on Katzarah dam.

Similarly, if Guroh Dop Dam with storage capacity of 8.5 maf was built on Panjkora/Swat River, there would have been no flood damages and loss of huge human lives from Kabul River and Swat River flooding in Peshawar valley. WAPDA has foolishly chozen Munda Dam on Swat River that is single purpose power dam on run-of-the- river. It cannot  control floods in Swat River that causes havoc in Kabul River in Peshawar valley. Katzarah Dam and Guroh Dam will break the severity of floods.   

All this proves we are a self-destroy nation. It shows charlatans are handling land, water, power resources of the country for the past 35 years. The bad governance created crippling load shedding, water shortage, flood havoc, food shortage, destruction of land due to salinity, rapid silting of reservoirs, long status quo, silting of 6.6 maf of storage under the Indus Waters Treaty and inter-provincial water dispute for not building dams to implement paras 2, 4, 6 and (14e) of  Water Accord.  There is no coordination between various concerned departments.

I strongly suggest to shift WAPDA’s head quarter from Lahore to Islamabad as of IRSA. This organization must be located in the Capital so that it has close coordination with all other organizations. This white elephant must improve its efficiency and throw away inertness. WAPDA was created with the objective to develop land, water and power resources of the country for agricultural development to produce food for the rapidly growing population. This objective is ignored. No drainage project is executed to control salinity. No dam is built during the past 36 years. All this has caused current flood havoc and unprecedented loss of life and property.          

Accumulating salinity destroying irrigated Agriculture in Indus basin for lack of drainage

Drainage and flood control are vital parts of irrigated agriculture as they relate to moisture control of crops in the field. Canal irrigation system is incomplete without its integral drainage system to evacuate excessive moisture and injurious salts from the root zone area of crops out of irrigated area to maintain salt and water balance, withhold water table depth, and control salinity. The obsolete, 150 years old, seeping and highly wasteful canal irrigation system in the Indus basin is unique, in the sense that it has no drainage system to maintain salt and water balance, control water table and evacuate the injurious salts out of the root zone area of crops, so that lands are kept healthy and productive. On the contrary the saline drainage effluent is retained in the ground and excessively used for irrigation by pumping about 45 to 50 maf of saline drainage effluent through one million small tube wells. 

The “seepage losses and the system losses” from the obsolete canal irrigation system is about 50 maf of water out of 105 maf diverted in the canal system.

Drainage is a vital and integral component of irrigated agriculture to evacuate injurious salts out of the area but is surprisingly missing and ignored. The result is that more than 60% of the irrigated lands in the Indus basin suffer due to accumulating salinity, sodicity and water logging to various degrees. It ranges from slight, moderate to sever salinity, sodicity and water logging.

Former President FM Mohammad Ayub Khan declared salinity and water logging as enemy No:1 of Pakistan. WAPDA made two futile attempts to provide drainage of irrigated lands by conceiving wrong projects of “tube wells based SCARPs and NDP”.  WAPDA wasted Rs 750 billion and a period of more than 20 years on two wrongly planned projects but badly failed to remove salinity, sodicity and water logging from the Indus basin. The irrigation system is now left to its catastrophic fate. Government took no notice of these mega failures, leaving irrigation system without drainage system subjecting lands to destruction by salinity.

In SCARPs and NDP both, WAPDA provided about 40,000 deep and large tube wells to pump the groundwater that was actually the saline drainage effluent accumulated for the past more than 100 years. A tube well with vertical flow in circulation is not a drainage infrastructure, as it has no horizontal component to evacuate salinity and maintain salt and water balance in root zone of crops and control water table.

WAPDA had no drainage idea how to physically evacuate injurious salts out of the area, control water table and maintain salt and water balance to keep soil healthy for maximum agricultural production. The Ministry of Water and Power, and WAPDA failed to meet these basic and vital requirements of drainage of land to safeguard the root zone area of crops. No agronomist from the PARC and no one from Planning Commission pointed it out the right method of drainage while approving the projects. The Provinces too failed except NWFP, where I planned sub-surface tile drainage for Mardan SCARP as I was the Consultant and Project Director. The project is functioning excellently for the last about 35 years.

WAPDA wrongly conceived that tube wells pumping would remove salinity, maintain salt and water balance, and control water table. Tube well lower the water table, and provide extra water that extra water is saline drainage effluent if used for irrigation. Tube well cannot achieve the objectives of drainage. Salty drainage effluent would remain in circulation by tube wells. WAPDA failed to conceive that extra groundwater is in fact the “injurious, saline drainage effluent” as accumulated, and is meant for physical evacuation out of the area.

 Instead of this, WAPDA put the injurious “groundwater saline drainage effluent” in circulation between the top soil and the groundwater drainage effluent for irrigation use, The saline water cycle circulates through the root zone area of crops that badly affects agricultural production invisibly and gradually. The resultant saline water circulation is concentrating, and increasing salinity in the top soil continuously as well as in the root zone of crops. WAPDA failed to conceive to maintain salt and water balance, fixing water table depth and remove injurious salts out of the area from the Indus basin.

After embracing failure, WAPDA abandoned SCARPs and replaced it by NDP costing Rs 500 billion. There was no change of concept between the SCARPs and NDP. Both the wrongly conceived drainage projects have failed and were abandoned without enquiring the reasons of failure.

The result is that the world’s largest contiguous canal irrigation system in the Indus basin is without its integral component of drainage system.

Wrong planning shows that no one in the concerned professional organizations knew the accurate technical definitions of “Drainage’, Leaching. “Irrigation”, and “Water Management”. If they knew the correct definitions, they would not have repeatedly planned and executed wrongly conceived SCARPs and NDP. WAPDA twice committed blunder. Later on, WAPDA simply abandoned and forgot the idea to provide the missing and vital drainage system. WAPDA probably could not conceive the right type of project planning.

After knowing the water coming out the SCARPs tube wells, the farmers of the Indus basin came to know and learnt that groundwater is easily available beneath their lands. As such, the small farmers during the past 30 years have started installing small and shallow tube wells.

The result is that there are about one million small tube wells that indiscriminately pump more than 50 maf of the “saline and saline-sodic groundwater drainage effluent” to irrigate their lands. The result of the miss-use of the saline effluent as groundwater is that their lands are gradually and invisibly getting more and more saline each year as more than 250 million tons of injurious salts are added to soil each year.

It is established  that if this dangerous trend continues it is feared that most of the Indus basin would become saline, saline-sodic and water logged with in about another 30 years.

It is surprising that surface and sub-surface tile drainage is very common in irrigated areas throughout the world. It is an established and well recognized drainage system practiced the world over. WAPDA failed to adopt this system. It shows WAPDA is unaware of the technical definitions of irrigation, drainage, leaching and water management while planning such mega projects. Why these definitions were not in the knowledge of WAPDA is surprising and is questionable?

For the information of WAPDA, I give the technical definitions of drainage, leaching, and irrigation. This will guide them. WAPDA must plan and design mega irrigated agriculture, and drainage projects in the light of their technical definitions. WAPDA is unaware of the capacity-inflow ratio while selecting dam sites.

Technical definition of drainage

“Drainage is the essential part of irrigation work, collecting the water that leached the salts out of soil and evacuating it out side the area, as well as separating the “reclaimed layer” from the sub-soil to avoid raising the water table with the resultant retrogression”.

WAPDA did not plan SCARPs and NDP according to the above definition of drainage. Therefore, both projects costing Rs 750 billion failed.

“Sub-surface tile drainage prevents a rise in water table, keeping the later at a depth that will not harm root development of crops and maintain salt and water balance”

In this system, even the “return flow” or drainage effluent after the leaching of land when salts are evacuated from the top to the root zone soil, would be useable for irrigated agriculture.

SCARPs and NDP were not designed to produce infrastructures as per the definition of drainage and leaching. The definitions clearly show to provide surface and sub-surface tile drainage to evacuate the leached injurious salts out of the area, maintain salt and water balance, control salinity and water logging, and keep water table at the desired depth.

Definition of Leaching

“Leaching is the process of dissolving and transporting soluble salts by down ward movement of water through the soil”

Definition of Irrigation

“It is designed to include irrigation, drainage and flood control all of which relate to the moisture control of crops in the field”

In view of the above definitions, SCARPs and NDP were criminal blunders that wasted Rs 750 billion, 20 years of time and cheated the nation twice and then abandoned it so that we silently lose irrigated lands in the Indus basin as saline wastelands and face famine, as we are now facing load shedding. Indus basin is the food basket of Pakistan. Its lands must be saved by tile drainage.

The basic and vital inputs of irrigated agriculture are healthy land, and timely water. We cry for water but ignore quality of land, and its chronic and serious problems. The question is if we lose land due to salinity, sodicity and water logging then what would be the use of water, of building of dams, barrages and irrigation systems? This is a very serious matter but no body pays attention to set lands healthy by providing surface and sub-surface tile drainage. The result in the near future would be like that of load shedding but food shedding is not possible. Sever famine will grip the country. It is surprising that PARC and the Ministry of agriculture is silent spectator though drainage of land, and irrigation of land are vital inputs of agriculture. They must point out their basic needs and instruct the water resources engineers to provide them infrastructure as is needed for healthy crop growth.

There is no quick solution for solving the issues of land, energy, floods and water to produce food to feed the rapidly growing population that would be 35 crores by the year 2040. We must foresee and plan 100 years ahead.

I was Consultant for Mardan and Swabi SCARPs. I conceived, planned and prepared feasibility reports for surface and sub-surface tile drainage. The project was successfully implemented. It is working excellently for the past 30 years. WAPDA has not learnt lesson out of it, as WAPDA is no longer a skilled and professionalize organization as it was planned.

 Further proof of this is that WAPDA once abandoned the Kachi Canal alignment from Mithan Kot for Baluchistan when half completed. The alignment was then shifted on the upstream to Taunsa barrage.

 Similarly, WAPDA turned Kalabagh Dam controversial as WAPDA gave tailored TOR to the Kalabagh Project Consultants that proved the project infeasible. WAPDA held Kalabagh in status quo for 36 years. WAPDA had no idea of the capacity-inflow ratio while selecting dam site.

 WAPDA ignored the construction of unique, multipurpose Katzarah Dam on the Indus and the multipurpose dam at Guroh Dop on Panjkora River the main tributary of Swat River discovered by me in 1962. WAPDA contributed nothing after 1974. Like IRSA, WAPDA’s head quarter must be shifted to Islamabad or it should be wounded up and replaced by the Indus Valley Authority for building dams and barrages on the Indus.       

Water Management to remove wastage of water and revolutionize Irrigated Agriculture

Pakistan is an agricultural country. Its economy, and food production depends on irrigated agriculture. There is therefore need to remove scarcity of water by the scientific use of land and water. Pakistan suffers scarcity of water due to sever mismanagement, besides the problems of salinity and sodicity of land. The only remedy to remove wastage of water in canal irrigation system and by way of flood control is through Integrated Comprehensive Water Management by the efficient use of the available water. We cannot create water but can use the available water efficiently to remove its scarcity as far as possible.

 There is therefore dire need to modernize the 150 years old, obsolete, highly wasteful and incompatible canal irrigation system and its rigid flow, so as to supply water to crops on the basis of crop consumptive use of water, as and when required in proper dozes.

There is need to tackle all problems of irrigated agriculture by Integrated Comprehensive Water Management to save wastage of water, remove its shortage, remove and control salinity of land, implementing watershed management controlling silt that choke reservoirs, control floods and build mega dams to store water that goes waste to sea. This is necessary to safeguard and further develop irrigated agriculture to produce food for the rapidly growing population.

 The obsolete irrigation system vitally requires modernizing it. It urgently requires to provide the missing drainage system that has caused salinity, sodicity and water logging in more than 60% of the irrigated area to various degrees. There is need to build water conservation structures, provide water efficient and modern conveyance, distribution, regulation, and measurement system. It is necessary to adopt efficient water application methods, and supply water on crop consumptive use basis.

In short, the dire need is to undertake “Integrated Comprehensive Water Management with all its components true to its technical definition to avoid wastage of water. The major problems to tackle, and to save water are;

Modernization of the 150 years old, obsolete, seeping and highly wasteful canal irrigation system with high “seepage losses and system losses” of about 50% of the inflow into the canal system. The wastage amounts to about 45 maf to 50 maf.

The existing canal irrigation system and its rigid flow has become incompatible with the cropping pattern and in meeting the crop water needs as per their consumptive use as and when required in proper dozes.

There is need to replace wasteful, unscientific and time-based “Warabandi” method of the supply of water by gravity flow or by flooding of lands, by the water efficient sprinkler and drip irrigation methods. This is necessary to meet water needs of crops as per their consumptive use.

There is need to conserve floodwater going waste to sea, due to absence of dams and barrages on the Indus. The Indus is the only river where mega dam sites are available. Jehlum, Chinab, Ravi and Kabul Rivers have no dam sites in Pakistan.

The provinces should avoid huge theft of water and losses of water of about 16 maf between Chashma to Kotri reach of the Indus. IRSA reported that 50,000 cusecs of water is lost in this reach. The provinces should be warned to watch it and save this loss to avoid inter-provincial water disputes. 

The Government should take serious measures to avoid rapid loss of storage water by silting of dams as no watershed management measures are taken. Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma have lost about 6.6 maf of water in storage capacity with in 36 years.

The Indus River’s “meandering waterway” is about 14 miles wide. At places, it is 32 KM wide. It wastes a lot of water in its vast waterway as well as land in a 14 miles wide meandering bed. It needs river channelization to reduce waterway from 14 miles width to only 4500 feet or a little more. The reduced waterway would reduce seepage and evaporation losses besides reclaiming millions of acres of land along the banks of the river throughout its length.

Similarly, heavy seepage and evaporation losses take place from the network of unlined main canals, distributaries, minors and watercourses. It needs modernization to save water. There is need to replace watercourses by pipe supply to avoid theft, seepage and evaporation losses.

Increasing population would require greater water requirements for agricultural development, industrial uses, besides domestic needs. We cannot create fresh water but can save wastage.

India has illegally build dams, holding Pakistan’s share of water, and diverting flows on all rivers and their tributaries in a network to irrigate Rajisthan. India has created huge dead storage and live storage in occupied Kashmir. This has resulted in reduced flow to Pakistan by diverting its share of water. It adversely affects Rabi and early Kharif crops and food production in the Indus basin irrigation system.

Global warming and climate change has also reduced river flows. It will upset rivers flow, increase it or decrease, create flood or droughts. This will upset irrigated agriculture. Therefore, storage dams are required to regulate rivers flow by building dams and barrages where-ever possible.

There is dire need to build many dams and barrages specifically on the Indus to conserve water, as there are no dam sites on all other mega rivers.

There is need for rainwater harvesting to preserve water and supplement groundwater by building small, medium and big dams on nullahs, streams, rivers and control hill torrents besides building barrages on all major rivers.

Build the missing surface and sub-surface tile drainage to reclaim land from salinity, sodicity, and water logging and improve lands under irrigation system to produce food.

The solution to all the above problems that involves huge wastage of water lie, in “Integrated Comprehensive Water Management” (ICWM), the technical definition of which is as follows:-

Definition of 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”.

The definition of water management shows that it is a combined process of about a dozen of its components that are urgently required to be implemented to avoid huge wastage of water from canal irrigation system and from floods going waste to sea. Therefore, there is a need to implement ICWM true to its technical definition. This is necessary to achieve maximum water availability and efficiency of water use. Most engineers do not know the vital components of ICWM. Major water issues to be set right are briefly pointed out below;

Modernization of the 150 years old, obsolete, highly wasteful canal irrigation system

The most important of all issues is to avoid heavy losses of water due to “seepage and system wastage” from the canal irrigation system that is 150 years old, and has become obsolete. Out of the 105 maf of water diverted into the canal irrigation system, about 50% of water (about 50 maf) is wasted. Besides this, the waste flow becomes saline groundwater drainage effluent, creating salinity and sodicity problems. Wasting 50 maf of water, when it is scarce, is crime against public interest. This water, if saved is enough to irrigate 14 million acres of new barren land by flooding method, and double this amount by sprinkler and drip irrigation methods.

The wasteful and unscientific “Warabandi” method of the supply of water to land irrespective of crop grown for fix duration of time, for a given land area, must be replaced by the supply of water as per crop consumptive use as and when required.

As there are no dams on the Indus to control floods that go waste to sea, therefore huge quantity of water is lost to sea as floodwater waste. This flow varies very widely as the Indus is highly erratic river with heavy silt flow. The flow of Indus shall have to be controlled and regulated by dams to sustain irrigation system. Watershed management is required to control silt to increase the life of reservoirs.  

Not only this, silt flow shall have to be controlled by wise selection of dam sites giving priority to the capacity-inflow ratio otherwise all dams shall silt up in rapid succession thereby losing all storage sites on the Indus. Indus is the only River of Pakistan that serves as its lifeline. Therefore, wrong site selection of dams on the Indus would destroy its storage potential. There are no dam sites on Jehlum, Chinab, Ravi, and Kabul River in Pakistan. Therefore, barrages may be built on these rivers.

Loss of 50,000 cusecs of water on the Indus due to theft, and misuse between Chashma to Kotri portion

This is a serious matter for this huge loss that needs to be prevented and the thieves punished. The major loss by theft is due to direct pumping and by means of tube wells installed near the Indus bank that draws Indus River water through the sub-soil extraction. The provinces should take notice of it.

 The other reason for the loss of Indus water is its extraordinary 14 miles wide meandering width, long distance and high temperature. The river needs channelization to reduce its waterway by building several barrages. This will remove meanders by silt deposition, shorten river length though little, increase velocity of flow and reclaim millions of acres of Government land on both banks of the Indus due to silt deposition. Please study Chashma barrage silting on its upstream and the reclamation of land due to silting. This will help channelizing the Indus.

Rapid silting of reservoirs due to lack of watershed management and ignoring capacity-inflow ratio resulting in loss of 6.6 maf of storage in 36 years

As the Indus River water is full of sediment load due to heavy soil erosion from Skardu valley, therefore dam site selection on the basis of capacity-inflow ratio is most vital so that the reservoir has a very long life span. This is the basic principle for the selection of Dams.

 We must make efforts to select a dam site where the inflow is less than the storage capacity of the reservoir. On this principle, Katzarah is a unique dam site on the Indus. Kalabagh and Tarbela are the lowest priority dam sites as the inflow is many times more than the capacity of the reservoir. These will therefore rapidly silt up. One must learn from the rapid silting of Tarbela Reservoir in planning future reservoirs on the Indus.

India violates Indus Waters Treaty, usurps Pakistan’s water, withholds millions of acre feet of water, uses water as a weapon to cause famine in Pakistan a crime against humanity

India is building dozens of dams on all the six rivers and their tributaries that originate from occupied Kashmir a disputed territory in shear violation of the Indus Waters Treaty. The main objective of India is to store water to its optimum limit utilizing full rivers slope potentials and use water as a weapon to destroy the Indus basin canal irrigation system in Pakistan, the largest contiguous canal irrigation system in the world.

 India has so far created about 15 maf of dead storage and about 15 maf of live storage. India has already built 475 feet high Baglihar Dam. The flow of Chinab River has dropped from 21 maf to 14 maf after the construction of Baglihar Dam. India is now building Barsar Dam with a height of 827 feet the largest dam in the sub-continent though occupied Kashmir is a disputed territory. This will further reduce Chinab flow, though under the Treaty Jehlum and Chinab Rivers belong to Pakistan.

India is allowed to generate hydropower on run-of-the-river and not to create huge live storage as that is in violation of the Treaty. All this means that India is igniting terrorism in Pakistan that may frenziedly lead to nuclear war if India forces famine on Pakistan. The world may take notice and expedite the implementation of the 60 years old UN resolution on Kashmir. The UN may take notice of the wrong partition of the sub-continent that created water dispute between the two neighbors. Nuclear conflict must be avoided to protect the earth’s environment and the destruction of human race. A hungry and dying man can do anything. The dispute requires peaceful settlement.

Global warming, glaciers melting and climate change

Global warming is inevitable. What we can do is to mitigate its impact by building mega dams, reservoirs, barrages, and create wet lands and grow forest where possible. It is highly essential to raise artificial forests on the sides of water reservoirs and in irrigated areas. It is necessary to reduce injurious gases from vehicles, factories and from burning fossil fuel. At one stage, rivers discharges would substantially reduce and in another stage river discharges would increase due to glaciers melting. Construction of dams are essentially required for all stages. Dams are required for rainwater harvesting. Irrigation system essentially requires dams to regulate the erratic flows of rivers. Dams are required for clean production of hydropower. Dams are required to implement Water Accord and end inter-provincial water dispute. Dams are required to control super floods and avoid loss of human life and billions of dollars loss to property

Providing the missing drainage system, a component of water management to save lands from salinity, sodicity and water logging.

Land and water are the basic inputs of agriculture. Land is becoming diseased due to the absence of surface and sub-surface tile drainage, a component of water management. Land has become saline and saline-sodic. Agriculture would suffer and food crisis would arise if salinity from land is not removed and controlled. Wastage of water is to be saved by water management and diseased land corrected by providing surface and sub-surface tile drainage to control salinity and to develop agriculture to produce food. Pakistan needs food for its expanding population and it needs water and healthy land to produce food. Therefore, water management and the sub-surface tile drainage that is its missing component are required to be implemented to achieve the objectives.      

Dams on the Indus would generate about 40,000 MW of cheap and environment friendly hydropower that would be used in running sprinkler and drip irrigation besides other uses. Cheap hydropower generation is a component of water management as higher lands can only be irrigated by lifting water that requires hydropower. Similarly, sprinkler and drip irrigation require pressure pumps that needs hydropower.    

Creation of Indus Valley Authority for Permanent solution to Power and Water issues

Power shortage has crippled the country. Pakistan will never come out easily of this cobweb. Therefore, there is dire need to build multipurpose dams to generate hydropower and to store water on the Indus for irrigated agriculture on permanent basis to produce food as well as control floods. Similarly, water shortage and water wastage would create famine.

 There is therefore need to create Indus Valley Authority (IVA) to build dams and barrages on the Indus to create 45 maf of water storage, produce 40,000 MW of hydropower, and control floods similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Indus Valley Authority would build dams to stop silt flow that reduces storage capacity of reservoirs. Tarbela Reservoir alone has lost 5 maf of storage water. Dams function as effective watershed management infrastructure to control silt.

 The unique, 35 maf  Katzarah Dam on the Indus would control silt at its source in the Skardu valley that has highly erodible soil and is the source of silt in the Indus water. Indus is the only multipurpose “life support river” in Pakistan where a number of mega dams can be built. Katzarah is the King of Dams with a lifespan of 1000 years.

Shortage of hydropower and water besides flood havoc are self created due to negligence, as no dam is built after Tarbela in 1974. The Power and Water issues are catastrophic and State collapsing with great backlog. Floods have devastated the country. Provincial Water Dispute is the result of non-implementation of the Water Accord. The reasons for ignoring dams are lack of planning and no future vision from any corner since 1974. No one has taken notice that about 50 maf of water is being lost in the 150 years old, obsolete, incompatible and highly wasteful canal irrigation system.

It is alarming to note that Tarbela Reservoir has silted up by 5.0 maf (11.6.-6.7). Mangla by 1.21 maf, and Chashma by 0.55 maf. The total reduction in storage comes to 6.6 maf. Reduced storage capacity reduces hydropower generation capability. Against the loss of 6.6 maf storage, the live storage of Basha, is 6.0 maf on its completion probably in 2018-19. This means the replenishment of lost storage would not be met even on completion of Basha, as by then more storage would be lost to silting. The current historic floods must have deposited a lot of silt in Tarbela Reservoir. Therefore, there is need to build Katzarah dam that has 35 maf storage capacity and 10,000 to 15,000 MW of power and would act as watershed management dam.

The current power shortage ranged between 4000 to 5000 to 6000 MW that is horrific. Basha’s installed power generation capacity would be 4500 MW. Against this, we need to generate additional 25000 MW of firm hydropower by the year 2020. All these vividly show that power, water, floods and silting issues are serious but are neglected. Therefore, we must plan to meet the future needs when population would be doubled. This needs the creation of IVA to build dams to develop water and power on the Indus the only river where dams can be built.

Out of six or seven major rivers, Pakistan mainly depends on the Indus River where multipurpose water storage dams can be built to generate cheap hydropower, and store water for irrigated-agriculture  to produce food.

It is the responsibility of State to produce the basic necessity of life such as food under article 38(d) of the Constitution. The State did not bother to develop water and power for the past 36 years that created crippling load shedding. Similarly, there would be deadly food shortage due to lack of water in the very near future that would cause hunger and famine.

It is unfortunate that after Basha Dam, all the downstream dam sites on the Indus are less attractive than the one above. These dam sites are at Dassu, Bungi, Thakot, Pattan etc. All these dam sites including Basha are subjected to rapid silting. Bash’s life is estimated, about 80 years. This shows silting is equally dangerous problem that needs effective solution. So far, no one has thought to handle the serious problem of preventing rapid silting of reservoirs. In 36 years, we have lost 6.6 maf of storage. Katzarah Dam is a life saving gift of God, having a 1000 years of life span.

The current dispute between Sindh and Punjab is only due to shortage of water. Water Accord distributed 117.35 maf of water. Against this, the canal system presently receives about 90 to 95 maf of water during the keen demand period. Out of this, huge amount of water is stolen on the way.

The Indus basin irrigation system can never depend on run-of the-river, as it requires the support of huge storage to meet crop water needs as and when required during the keen demand period. Indus River has highly erratic flow. It needs storage for regulation.

WAPDA categorically committed to submit the feasibility report of unique, multipurpose Katzarah Dam before the Parliamentary Committee headed by Nisar Memon by September 2005. There seems to be a conspiracy as WAPDA avoids to build the 35 maf multipurpose Katzarah Dam capable of generating 10,000 to 15,000 MW of power and prevent silt flow.   

Katzarah Dam site is extremely narrow, about 250 to 300 feet wide at the bed level. I discovered Katzarah Dam site in 1962, and confirmed by Dr Pieter Lieftnick head of the World Bank Team in 1968.

It is baffling that in spite of the issues of power, water, rapid silting, sever floods (besides serious water issues with India) faced by Pakistan, WAPDA did not inform the Prime Minister of the availability of the 35 maf unique dam site at Katzarah on the Indus 20 miles downstream of Skardu. Katzarah multipurpose dam if built would solve all the four crippling issues. An Urdu Newspaper “Khabarein” published in August 2000 that China has offered to build this dam. China again offered to generate hydropower on the Indus.   

Besides solving huge problems of Power, Water, and floods, Katzarah Dam will function as Watershed Management dam to prevent silting of downstream reservoirs. It will stop silt flow in the Indus water from the world’s highly erodible soil of Skardu valley – the source of silt. The unique quality of Katzarah Dam will increase the life of Basha Dam from 80 years to 800 years. It will increase life of Tarbela Reservoir by about 60 years. Katzarah Dam’s storage is six times the storage of Basha Dam.

I therefore propose to create “Indus Valley Authority” to build dams on the Indus where possible and barrages on run-of-the-river to generate at least 40,000 MW of hydropower and create storage capacity of about 40 maf on the Indus with in 10 to 15 years. Katzarah will stop silt flow by submerging highly erodible area in Skardu valley. We have yet to face more super floods due to global warming. The population of Skardu should be settled as China did it for Three Gorges Dam. They can be settled along the periphery of the huge Lake.

A short-term relief by a low-dam-cum-barrage on the Indus

An immediate short-term relief to energy and water problems is to build a multipurpose hydraulic structure comprising of low dam-cum-barrage on run-of-the-Indus River in the Indus valley about 4 to 5 mile on the upstream of the confluence of the Indus and Soan River from the site of Kalabagh Dam. The high barrage a new concept, would generate about 2000 to 4500 MW of hydropower, store about 2.5 maf of water to be repeatedly filled two or three times during the year due to its unique location where about 80 to 90 maf of water passes. The storage reservoir created would be confined to the Indus River Valley. It therefore involves no land acquisition, no land compensation and no controversy. The high barrage storage, would act as “balancing reservoir” for Tarbela and Basha Dams when more power generation is required without losing irrigation water. It is a far better replacement of the controversial Kalabagh Dam that created 36 years status quo. Moreover, Project Consultants Kalabagh do not agree with the faulty hydraulic design imposed by the client under the wrong TOR given by WAPDA. The new proposal  can be built with in three years.

USA has recently promised to make transformational investment in Pakistan and stated that it would go to its absolute limit to help Pakistan overcome the energy and water issues.  Pakistan’s energy and water problems cannot be solved without building mega dams on the Indus. The US Aid Policy for mega dams shall have to be relaxed for Pakistan as a measure of dire necessity.

 USA has suggested cosmetic aid of installing 10,000 tube wells and lining of the obsolete canal system as solution to water issue. I totally disagree. Tube wells and lining of obsolete canals will create many serious problems. It is not the solution to water issues. The obsolete canal system needs modernization to save wastage. Let USA modernize the canal irrigation system by water management to save huge wastage of water and help build Katzarah Dam if it wants to help Pakistan..

Pakistan has already about one million small tube wells that pump about 50 maf of the saline and saline-sodic drainage groundwater effluent (seepage from canal system). Fertile lands are invisibly and gradually destroyed in Punjab by water from tube wells, turning it saline and saline-sodic to various degrees. If lands in the Indus basin are lost to salinity, then there would no use of water for irrigation.

We need sub-surface tile drainage to control salinity that is missing. We need efficient development of surface water by water management to avoid wastage of about 50 maf of water. We need to modernize the obsolete, 150 years old canal irrigation system that carry 105 maf of water in its obsolete system where 50 maf of water is lost in seepage and as system wastage due to incompatibility with agricultural crop water needs and obsoleteness.

Another 16 maf water is lost between Chashma to Kotri due to theft. IRSA recently reports that 50,000 cusecs of water is stolen between Chashma to Kotri. This shows failure of Government supervision. Moreover, failure to implement Water Accord has created water disputes as its paras 2, 4, 6, and 14(e) are not implemented as required under para 13 of the Water Accord.

The Indus River needs channelization and building at least 4 or 6 barrages to store water and generate hydropower. Channelization will reclaim millions of acres of land. All the required improvement are possible by undertaking Integrated Comprehensive Water Management if implemented as per its technical definition.

The load shedding would continue for decades if IVA is not created.  Do not wait to face food shortage in the near future in the form of famine. Therefore, we must solve the issues of energy, water, saline lands, saline groundwater drainage effluent, silting, floods and food issues through the creation of Indus Valley Authority.

 Short-term measures of rented power plants are no solution, rather it creates status quo like on Kalabagh Dam. The economic loss is in billions of dollars each year. The Government should announce “energy and water policy” to pacify the infuriating people by announcing the creation of the “Indus Valley Authority” with headquarter at Islamabad for building multipurpose dams to create storage and produce hydropower beside help mitigate climate change due to global warming.

India is violating IWT as it has built dozens of storage dams on all the six rivers and on their tributaries. India has built 475 feet high Baglihar Dam and is building 827 feet high Barsar Dam on Chinab River. India has created 15 maf of dead storage and 15 maf of live storage in occupied Kashmir so far and is adding more and more. Government should take notice of it as Rabi and early Kharif crops in Pakistan would suffer severely.