Thal canal controversy

THE Sindh assembly, although otherwise bitterly divided, has passed two unanimous resolutions against the Greater Thal Canal project within four months. A province-wide agitation has also been launched against the project, which is being undertaken in Dera Ghazi Khan, and feelings on the issue apparently run high. The first resolution was passed in February; unfortunately, it did not evoke any reaction from the federal government. Even more unfortunately, the issue has assumed the tone and colour of a tussle between Sindh and Punjab. Insinuations that an “Indian lobby” may be behind the anti-Thal agitation constitute exactly the kind of thing that can exacerbate tensions. Emotional charges and counter-charges will make us lose sight of the many knotty problems that are involved and that need to be straightened out. If we do not tread carefully and judiciously, we might have another Kalabagh-type situation on our hands.

There are differing points of view on the project and different interpretations of the 1991 water accord between the four provinces. Should the waters of the Indus be apportioned among the provinces on the basis of historic use or should the water accord be considered as the final decider? Was the accord changed after it was adopted by the provinces, and have the changes adversely affected the rights of one province or another? Should Indus waters be allowed to run into the sea, to prevent the sea from eroding the delta region and damaging its economically vital mangrove forests, or should more dams and irrigation projects be built upstream? Millions of acres of arable land in the delta are said to have been submerged by sea water, and there has been large-scale environmental damage, with fresh water lakes having been turned into what one commentator has described as sea-water ponds. On the other hand, some of the irrigation projects undertaken in Sindh are stated to have affected people in Punjab, such as the Katchi Canal.

It is not clear whether all these aspects have been fully studied or indeed whether calculations of the total water available have been correctly made. It is said that when the Thal canal was approved by the Indus River System Authority, Sindh had a majority in that body, and it should therefore have no complaints now. But it is suggested by those against the Thal project that agreements reached have subsequently been modified to Sindh’s disadvantage. Water levels have been running low, and this has lent a sharper edge to the debate. Unless all the provinces are prepared to equitably share both shortages and surpluses, a rational solution will elude everyone.

It should also be realized that the Thal issue has a bearing on the entire question of the smooth running of the federation. Years of centralized and undemocratic rule have impinged on provincial autonomy; the new local government system has put fresh strains on the centre-province equation. In each province, there is a sense of frustration, and frustration can easily lead to bitterness and antagonism. The federal government must take up the Thal Canal question on a priority basis and see how best it can be resolved to the satisfaction of everyone and to the common benefit of the people of Punjab and Sindh — whether through a round-table conference or through the Council of Common Interest, an institution meant to settle inter-provincial matters but which has hardly ever been given any importance. A technical issue is regrettably becoming politicized.

Another Guantanamo Bay?

A RECENTLY released report by Amnesty International gives a disturbing account of the conditions in which the US-led occupation forces are keeping Iraqi prisoners since the fall of Baghdad on April 9. The International Committee of the Red Cross puts the number of Iraqi prisoners of war at over 6,000 while AI says that over 2,000 prisoners are being held merely on the suspicion that they abetted the Baathist regime. The latter are being kept handcuffed in tents perched in the desert where daytime temperatures touch 50 degrees Celsius these days. They are given little food and water and are even being tortured by US marines eager to extract confessions. Amnesty has expressed reservations about the legal framework governing these detentions, saying that no charges have been framed against the prisoners, with their families and lawyers being denied access to them.

Other reports emanating from Baghdad speak of torture and abuse that prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison are being subjected to by the occupation authorities. Amnesty says the Bremer administration denied it permission to meet the Iraqi prisoners. A number of released prisoners showed the rights group’s representatives marks of handcuffs on their wrists. From the details given by the AI, which has previously criticized conditions at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, it seems that in the absence of an international monitoring mechanism under the UN, America’s treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war may be in contravention of the Geneva Conventions on the POWs. This, once again, underscores the need for a greater and more active role for the UN in post-war Iraq. It is time the EU, Russia, China and the UN rose to the occasion and tried to rein in a vindictive Washington from inhumane treatment of prisoners in US custody.

Blue Area facelift

ISLAMABAD’s main shopping and commercial area, called Blue Area, is in dire need of a facelift. Designed as the central business and commercial district of the capital, the area, especially its southern side, has not developed into the kind of neat and sleek zone that it was meant to be. While the northern side comprises elegant, 15 to 19-storey high-rise buildings, the less than six-storey buildings on the southern side form an untidy lot of plazas and mansions, some of which are architectural eye-sores. Many of the buildings are dilapidated and need more than a new coat of paint; they have to be thoroughly renovated. The many encroachments outside the shops, particularly shops selling electronic goods, and the eateries have contributed to giving the area a messy and chaotic look. On top of that, the disorganized parking of cars on both sides of the narrow service road in front of the buildings add to the clutter.

So it is a relief to know that the Capital Development Authority is planning to give the Blue Area a major facelift. It is reported that one of the features will be a division of the buildings on the southern side into 10 parts, each part having a different colour. This hopefully will help people to identify the particular building, and thus the shop or office, that they are looking for, a task which at the moment is more often than not a daunting one. Another feature of the facelift is turning the zone of restaurants and eateries into another food street. Whatever the other features of the renovation plans may be, they should include getting rid of encroachments — by, for instance, making shops have compulsory storage facilities — and reorganizing the car parking arrangements. The facelift should be such that it transforms Blue Area into a practical yet aesthetically pleasing business district.