Punjab is very much dominant in Pakistan, not only its political and strategic but economic and social sectors also, and due to this, other states of Pakistan have to bear its brunt. The policies of the nation are decided in such a way that naturally they are in a position to benefit Punjab. More recently Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that Sindh is being deprived of its due share of water, even according to the 1991 Water Accord, although it has reservations against the accord. He alleged that Sindh was being turned into a dry province by the federal government through the Indus River System Authority.
In 1991, an agreement to share waters of the Indus River was reached between the four provinces of Pakistan in the form of the Water Apportionment Accord (WAA). This accord is based on both, the existing and future water needs of the four provinces. The Chief Ministers of the four provinces, in a unique demonstration of mutual cooperation and national spirit, resolved the long outstanding dispute, which had brought water development in the country to a grinding halt.
Historical Background
The post-independence period has also witnessed similar events. In 1968, under the chairmanship of Mr Akhtar Hussain, the Water Allocation and Rates Committee was constituted by the Governor of former West Pakistan to review barrage water allocations, reservoir release patterns, drawdown levels and use of groundwater in relation to surface water deliveries. The Committee submitted its report on July 01, 1970 when the provinces were revived. No attention was paid to this report.
As a result, the Justice Fazle Akbar Committee was constituted in October 1970 to recommend apportionment of waters of the River Indus and its tributaries. The Committee submitted its report in 1971. During the same time period, ad hoc distribution of Chashma barrage and later Tarbela reservoir storage among the provinces was ordered. No decision was taken on the Fazle Akbar Committee recommendations and water continued to be distributed on ad hoc orders by the Government of Pakistan. In 1977, the Government of Pakistan established another commission comprising the Chief Justices of the High Courts of the Provinces, headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to examine the issue of water apportionment. The report of this commission is still pending with the Government of Pakistan.
The Apportionment
The Water Apportionment Accord is an agreement on the sharing of waters of the Indus Basin between the provinces of Pakistan. It is based largely upon the historical use of water by the provinces; Punjab 47%, Sindh 42% Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 8% and Baluchistan 3%.
Dispute redressal mechanism
With the inter-provincial water accord, if a dispute cannot be resolved within the Indus River System Authority, the only other resort is the Council of Common Interest, which resolves power sharing disputes between the federation and provinces. There is only one tier to resolve disputes and in many cases a province may not wish to escalate a concern to that level – in which case there is no mid-way.
Rational Concerns of Sindh
The Accord failed to end long simmering tensions between Sindh and Pakistan over water sharing. Of all the provinces of Pakistan, Sindh probably feels the most aggrieved because the accord does not guarantee a minimum “environmental flow” of river water through the province and into the Arabian Sea. Sindh worries extraction of water for dam building and irrigation in upstream provinces will deprive the region of the water it needs. People feel their rights have been usurped and that the provincial political leadership of the time was forced into signing this document.
According to research, 2.4 million acres of the Indus delta has been invaded by the sea and it is feared that if the present rate of sea erosion continues, the whole of Shah Bunder tehsil will vanish by 2035 and the sea will reach Thatta city by 2050.
According to another research in 1833, the delta of the Indus River was estimated to be stretching out over an area of around 12,900 square kilometres (sq km). However, the human impact on the environment and natural flow of the river has evidently resulted in the contraction of the delta by as much as 92% in the past 200 years.
It is clear that on one hand, Sindh is not getting a fair share as per its requirement, which is a major hindrance in its path of economic development; on the other hand, the loss of environmental damage due to the turbulence along the Indus River, Sindh will have to take the maximum burden.