Pak Facing Serious Water Crisis: Study

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New Delhi, May 12: : Of the four major countries in the South Asian region, Pakistan is already facing a serious water shortage problem, according to a study on water and security in the region.

The study undertook a review of the situation in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal and was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and implemented by the South Asia programme of the School of Advanced International Studies, Washington.

The study indicates that a projection made for the year 2025 shows that Pakistan would require 335 billion cubic metre. It will have no more than 236 billion cubic metre available, resulting in a shortfall of 102 billion cubic metre. None of the other three countries will have this problem, being comfortably endowed insofar as water is concerned.

The study is based on research conducted by experts from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The three policy advisers to the project were Maj Gen (retd) Mahmud Durrani from Pakistan, former Indian foreign secretary Salman Haider and a former Bangladesh foreign secretary Farooq Sobhan.

According to the report, “The water situation in Pakistan is already serious, when compared with other South Asian countries. Although until recently the Indus Water Treaty allowed both India and Pakistan to act independently in safeguarding issues concerning their water security, they cannot continue to do so in the future. This is because Pakistan is already a water-stressed country and requires utilising the full potential of the Indus river system in an integrated basin approach. This cannot take place without further co-operation between India and Pakistan. It is therefore necessary to think ahead and conceptualise a follow-up agreement to the 1960 Indus Water Treaty. One can, for example, envisage storage on the upper Indus, Jehlum and Chenab, over and above what is presently permitted under the current Treaty. Due to the hostility between the two countries, the idea may appear remote at the present time. But the very exercise of looking ahead would reveal the opportunity costs of non-cooperation and confrontation.”

The study examines the Indus Basin Water Treaty of 1960 and other water treaties and agreements critical to the region. It also identifies approaches toe water conflict issues within and between the countries of South Asia, as well as looks at the climate change and investment prospects of water availability that could affect the future water supplies in the region.