KARACHI, April 24: The Sindh government will effectively look after the rights and interests of Sindh.

This was stated in an official statement issued by the Sindh Irrigation and Power Department.

A spokesman for the department said that Sindh had suffered more than its share of the natural shortage of water for last nine years due to deviation from the 1991 accord by the previous governments.

“The 1991 Water Accord is a unanimously accepted agreement by all the four provinces of Pakistan,” said the statement.

It further stated: “It clearly lays down the share of each province in the total water available. However, the interpretation of the Punjab government that if the total water in the Indus River System falls below the quantity mentioned in the 1991 accord, then the decision should be done according to historic formula, is not only against the spirit of the 1991 accord but is also responsible for creating complications.

“This wrong interpretation of clause-14(2)(b) of the accord actually increases Punjab’s share of water than the 1991 accord in the years of natural shortage. Since the other two provinces get the same quantity of water, only Sindh suffers effects of the natural shortage of water.

“The release of water downstream Kotri is also an extremely important component of the Water Accord. Many people and innumerable species live downstream Kotri and in the coastal area of Sindh whose livelihood and existence depends upon fresh water from the Indus.

“The Sindh government is determined to safeguard the interests of the people of Sindh, including those living in the coastal districts, in respect of water and all other vital issues.

“The Sindh government has moved the federal government to initiate two separate studies to determine the effects of sea-intrusion into the delta. Sindh, therefore, insists upon implementing the 1991 water accord in letter and in spirit, including the clause that shortages should be shared by all provinces.

“The Sindh government wishes that all contentious issues be settled between provinces, according to the voice of the people of the provinces.

“Pakistan is a federation in which all provinces are like brothers. The people of Pakistan wish to live in peace and harmony and with compassion and consideration for the less-privileged.

“It was in this spirit that full requirement of Balochistan and NWFP provinces has been allowed notwithstanding shortages in the water supply.

“Therefore, people of Sindh desire that new plants of development that depend upon water should not be made at the time of acute natural shortage of water when existing projects are not getting their designed water component. Similarly, building of new dams when there is not sufficient water to fill in the old dams shall be considered a waste of scarce resources by the people of Sindh, especially when the apprehensions run deep that all water development projects would finally translate into less water for Sindh and more acrimony between the provinces”.—agencies