In an amazing development, Pakistan has decided to help Afghanistan develop water storage and hydel power generation on the River Kabul and then import the surplus power, without knowing that developing water reserves on the river would lead to significant water reduction in the River Indus system. An official source said this unique commitment was given at a two-day meeting of the Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Economic Commission held recently in Islamabad. However, he said top officials attending the meeting did not know that 65 percent share of water in Kabul River originated from River Kunhar in Chitral and building of water reserves in Afghanistan would significantly decline the water availability in Pakistan, as the water from Kabul River ultimately entered the country. Afghanistan is being helped by the international financial institutions to build more than 10 water reservoirs and hydel power projects on the River Kabul. Pakistan has serious reservations over the plans as it will lead to massive water shortage for irrigation in the country. Both the countries have no treaty on sharing the water resources of the River Kabul that they mutually share. The government is not aware of the complete situation as it was not appropriately briefed on the issue; the source said, adding that even some reports written by the government servants gave a wrong picture.
He mentioned a report, “Towards Kabul Water Treaty: Managing Shared Water Resources” written by a government servant Dr Shahid Ahmad of PARC, financed by an international NGO, IUCN in 2010, and currently posted on its website asks the government to resolve the water issues with Afghanistan.
The report says, “The current situation is very uncertain politically between the basin states of Kabul River basin, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The upper riparian, Afghanistan is developing new irrigation and hydro-power infrastructure for the benefits of future generations. Afghanistan is currently supported by the international community and has relatively the upper edge in resolving the conflicts.”
Then he directs his own government saying, “As Pakistan is a more developed country than Afghanistan, therefore, the change must start in Pakistan to develop a mindset to assist the neighbour in building the infrastructure.”
Asking his own government to show courage, he writes, “There must be leadership from the government of Pakistan, who should show the generosity of spirit which is an integral part of being truly a good neighbour after resolving the pending issues of mistrust; extends an invitation to Afghanistan to explore ways in which the principles of the International Water Laws could be respected, while providing a win-win situation for both the basin states. With good will there are multiple ways in which the treaty could be negotiated so that both the basin states could win; and discussions on the Kabul waters should be de-linked from both historic grievances and from the other Durand Line-related issues.”
What the writer misses completely is the fact that the Kabul River’s major source is River Kunhar which originates from Pakistan and secondly that irrigated farming is not possible in majority of the mountainous areas of the Kabul River basin. Any such schemes would only lead to curtailing the water flow to Pakistan. When Dr Shahid Ahmad was contacted to explain how being a government servant he could direct his own government, his reply was, “I have only given a technical advice”.
The source said the advice given by the report financed by the international NGO was similar to a report compiled by Indian origin authors of the World Bank who too have proposed building water reservoirs on the River Kabul for hydel power generation and then exporting it to Pakistan.
He said some unfriendly elements in the international community were making subtle attempts to dissuade financing of hydel power projects on Pakistan’s main rivers and were facilitating neighbour states to develop water storages on its rivers. India recently managed to get carbon credits from the United Nations for Nimoo Bazgo dam in the disputed territory of Indian-held Kashmir.
No comments:
Post a Comment