08 November 2004	Monday	24 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: The government has decided to give priority to the construction of carryover dams to achieve the twin objective of overcoming drought years and minimizing provincial opposition to new dams.

A water sector strategy prepared by the federal government says that there is a dire need to ensure that water resources plans increase the storage capacity through the development of new reservoirs in and outside the Indus Basin, which ensure sustained availability of sufficient water for all sectors up to 2025 and beyond, particularly during critical months of the year.

The strategy also calls for a rational approach to balance between developing new resources and efficiently managing the existing supplies.

The options for developing new resources, through additional storages, have been controversial and require an in-depth analysis as part of an integrated approach.

"Although there is great scope for managing demand, this also requires strong political will and determined efforts including strengthening of institutional capacity and some radical changes.

The strategy paper admits that irrigation and agriculture are both provincial responsibilities. The Indus Basin water resources belong to, and are shared by, all the provinces and the federally administered tribal areas of the country but it is the federation's responsibility to ensure that the water allocated to the provinces is equitably distributed.

It says that Pakistan's irrigation network development has now reached a mature stage where the concept of carryover storages, being used worldwide, needs to be seriously considered and given priority to overcome drought years. The stakeholders' participation in planning and development would have to be ensured.

The immediate case in point is the development of Kalabagh and Bhasha dams.

The country's lower riparians particularly Sindh is opposed to normal irrigation reservoirs and insists on the construction of carryover dams to ensure equitable distribution of water, especially in the drought years.

The government has now realized that to undertake basin-wide planning and coordinated development of water resources, there is a need to adopt the principles of integrated and unified river basin development to ensure that all aspects of water and areas are properly taken care of in decision-making for water resources development.

In preparing water resources plans, the government would make certain that they take a balanced approach to development across all sectoral uses and that water supplies are equitable and sustainable and that existing water rights are protected.

Also, it plans to ensure that surface and groundwater resources are developed and utilized in a sustainable way and conjunctively and that water is considered as a social and economic resource. However, cost recovery shall be consistent with affordability.

The government has acknowledges that a proper Drought Management Plan (DMP) is an essential tool for it to ensure that appropriate institutional and legal structures are in place prior to the onset of drought conditions and that necessary action is conceived in advance.

Currently, the seasonal forecasts based on statistical and historical trends and Al Nino phenomenon are made by the Meteorological department but such forecasts are generally vague and they hardly come close to accuracy, says the water sector strategy paper.

Thus, the DMP has to be tailored to the specific requirements of each river basin. For Pakistan, two types of DMPs would be required separately, one each for the Indus River Basin and the other for the Hill Torrent Basins, its says.

In non-irrigated areas of Pakistan, droughts are particularly devastating such as in Balochistan, Thar Desert, Thatta and Dadu districts of Sindh and Cholistan desert, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan districts of Punjab.

The government also plans to encourage and support Meteorological and other departments and agencies in carrying out research work in predicting droughts so that feasible counter measures can be timely taken through modified releases from reservoirs and other water management strategies. The research would also aim at developing appropriate mathematical models, the paper says.