Ensuring safe water

THE evidence is in and keeps mounting by the day. Research in recent years by both official and independent organisations has confirmed that the country is moving recklessly towards environmental ruin, yet little is being done to arrest this process of self-destruction. To the north, the forest cover is disappearing at a rapid rate, while in the south the mangroves shielding the coastline from extreme weather phenomena are being decimated in the name of development. Air and noise pollution in large cities across Pakistan is approaching unbearable levels, causing a sharp rise in physical and psychological health problems such as lung and heart diseases, ENT ailments, upper respiratory tract infections, allergies, headaches, confusion, irritability and inexplicable rage. Untreated industrial effluent, pesticide-laden run-off from farms and domestic waste are poisoning the waterways and contaminating the soil and underground water reserves. The Ravi river is heavily polluted, the Indus delta is drying up and over two million acres of arable land in Sindh has been lost to an encroaching sea over the last two decades or so. The once bountiful Manchhar Lake near Sehwan has been reduced to a toxic swamp. Untold damage is being inflicted on the Arabian Sea through pollution, destruction of hatcheries and overfishing. All this is taking a heavy toll on human life and livelihood security. Also at stake is the survival of several plant and animal species.

Water quality is perhaps the most pressing of these myriad problems. On February 15, a report released by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan and other concerned organisations summed up the severity of the problem in hard, cold numbers. Waterborne diseases kill nearly a quarter of a million children every year and account for up to 40 per cent of hospital admissions in the country. Every third Pakistani drinks unsafe water, while 36 per cent of the population in Sindh and Punjab lives with arsenic levels in water that vastly exceed WHO limits. Now a Faisalabad-specific study on the impact of wastewater has thrown up more alarming facts. According to the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), some 30 to 40 per cent of patients in the city suffer from waterborne diseases — which is hardly surprising given that 39 per cent of public water samples were found to be microbiologically unfit for human consumption. Microbial contamination in groundwater was even higher, ranging from 57 to 60 per cent depending on the location. Heavy metals such as chromium, cadmium, iron, lead and nickel were found to have entered the food chain via vegetables irrigated with wastewater and industrial effluent, as well as through fish reared in ponds fed by poor quality groundwater. Excessive quantities of iron were discovered in drinking water while soil samples were contaminated with nickel and cadmium. Clearly, the lives of Faisalabad’s 2.6 million people are at grave risk.

The PCRWR rightly recommends that irrigation with untreated wastewater must be stopped immediately and alternative sources, which are available in Faisalabad, should be tapped. At the same time, industrial effluent needs to be treated prior to discharge in compliance with existing environmental laws. To reduce dependence on groundwater, the local municipal body will have to ensure a regular supply of potable water through the mains. These recommendations for Faisalabad are applicable to the rest of the country too. Clean drinking water is a basic right and a productive Pakistan is not possible without a healthy workforce.

Will it work?

THE proposed peace deal with militants in Bajaur Agency needs to be examined against the backdrop of two similar agreements signed in the past and the difficulties encountered in implementation. Originally scheduled to be signed in October-November last year, the accord with the militants could not materialise because of the air strike on a madressah in Bajaur Agency on Oct 30. The deal signed last September with militants in North Waziristan has not been successful to the extent hoped for, especially because the recent series of suicide bombings seem to have created mistrust between the two sides. Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud denies responsibility for the bombings in the early week of Muharram, and that makes Governor Ali Jan Aurakzai claim that the Sept 5 deal has given “positive results”. He also claims that 50 foreign families have left the area, though he does not say where they went. In April 2004 and May 2005 as well, the government signed peace deals with militants, but both ended up in smoke after mutual accusations of violation of the truce. Breaking the news about the proposed Bajaur deal, the governor told journalists in Peshawar on Friday that a 21-man North Waziristan jirga had assured him that foreign militants found in the area would be handed over to the authorities.

It is difficult to be optimistic about the proposed deal because of the complex nature of the issues involved. The follow-up to 9/11, the American attack on Afghanistan, Pakistan’s role in the war on terror, and the need for eliminating terrorists in the area have to be seen against the background of tribal traditions, the tribal areas’ semi-autonomous status, and the tribesmen’s fierce independence and sense of honour. For that reason, the Taliban and the foreign militants can be tackled by force only to invite a larger backlash not only in the tribal areas but in the country at large. The government must examine causes of “some hurdles” to which the governor referred, and see to it that mistakes are not repeated and the two sides abide by the accord to ensure peace in Bajaur Agency.

Preventing Aids

A WORLD Bank team recently called on Sindh’s health minister to express alarm over the mounting figures for HIV/Aids patients in the province. The existing Aids control programme, they said, needed improvement. The Bank is providing millions of dollars to the government to stop the spread of the infection and is justifiably concerned over the lack of progress on this count, especially the slow release of funds to NGOs that are fighting this scourge. There is good reason for the government to heed the team’s advice which should apply to the other provinces as well. At the moment, Pakistan has a low HIV prevalence rate — about 0.1 per cent of its adult population is believed to be infected with the deadly virus. This is nothing compared to statistics for some other countries, including India where the number of HIV/Aids patients is in the millions. But there is no room for complacency. There are several high-risk groups in Pakistan, such as long-distance truckers, commercial sex workers, prisoners and drug addicts using shared needles. Moreover, unsafe health practices like the transfusion of contaminated blood are also responsible for the transmission of the infection.

Apart from this, what is also contributing to the spread of Aids is poor awareness of the disease and the tendency not to discuss it openly because of the social stigma associated with it. There have been some positive moves to counter this conservative trend, such as the formation last year of an association consisting of HIV/Aids victims. But more such steps are needed to raise awareness and disseminate information about Aids. At this stage, when Aids is still not a major problem, dissemination of the relevant information could go a long way in discouraging promiscuous behaviour and making it much easier to implement measures aimed at preventing Aids.

Energy, water issues in South Asia

THE 21st century was expected to be the century of economic and social development following the tumultuous 20th century which was dominated by the two world wars in its first half and the Cold War in the second.

In the last decade of the 20th century that followed the end of the Cold War, there was speculation as to the process of change towards an age of peace and cooperation in the coming century that would also mark the beginning of the new millennium.

The signs could not be regarded as promising as Indo-Pakistan relations deteriorated following the intensification of the movement for self-determination among the Kashmiri people. The extremist Hindu Party, BJP, rose to power in India and decided to go overtly nuclear by testing nuclear weapons in May 1998.

Indian leaders then adopted an arrogant attitude towards Pakistan, with top BJP leaders demanding that Pakistan should vacate Azad Kashmir. Pakistan was compelled to conduct nuclear tests two weeks later to match India’s ability and gain strategic parity.

This development gave impetus to a dialogue to resolve the disputes between the two countries peacefully reflected in Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's bus journey to Lahore in early 1999. Though the Lahore Declaration announced a joint commitment to resolve their differences peacefully, the Kargil conflict in Kashmir virtually cancelled out the gains. It took two years to resume the dialogue at the Agra summit in July 2001. The events of 9/11 caused an interruption as India tried coercive diplomacy in 2001-2002 but the peace process started anew from January 2004, with all items of the composite dialogue being taken up. An additional water issue arose over the Baglihar Dam, which was referred to the World Bank in accordance with the Indus Water Treat.

The decision on the Baglihar Dam issue announced by the expert named by the World Bank serves to underline the growing importance of energy and water issues between India and Pakistan. As the river Chenab had been allotted to Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India is entitled to use its waters only to generate hydro-electricity. However, the design and construction of the projected dam at Baglihar were such that the storage of the water in the winter months could result in denial of water for irrigation to Pakistan.

Traditional concepts of security had been concerned with threats to the independence of countries from major powers, or ambitious neighbours. The maintenance of adequate armed forces, equipped with the latest weapons, was considered a necessity. Since the end of the Second World War the national interests to be defended through diplomacy and the international system have come to include trade and economic interests for which freedom of the seas and other facilities have been developed over the years.

As the world's population has increased and there are growing demands on natural resources, particularly water and sources of energy, the limits of economic growth have been recognised along with the need to develop and sustain the essential ingredients for a rising standard of living all over the world. The industrial revolution gave its beneficiaries not only the capacity to increase their production but also the means to increase their military power so that they proceeded to acquire colonies as markets for their goods and as sources for raw materials during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The colonising powers, located mostly in Europe, managed to reach agreement on their share in Asia, Africa and Latin America, However, late-comers like Germany manifested their dissatisfaction by waging wars. The two world wars in the first half of the 20th century compelled the establishment of the UN system to end the "scourge of war", and to foster economic and social development in all parts of the world.

Though the Cold War limited any significant political gains by the rival super powers in the second half of the 20th century, most of the colonies won their independence and the UN agencies dealing with economic and social issues recorded significant gains. However, despite having lost their empires the developed countries kept increasing their wealth and share of the world's resources through their control of capital and technology, while most developing countries fell further behind.

As the disparity between the developed and developing countries grew, the larger problems of resource constraint began to make their presence felt owing to a combination of natural and man-made factors. Scarcity of water and energy had been forecast in the planet as a whole since the mid 20th century. The concept of sustainable development gradually began to preoccupy planners and economists as the attention of leaders and administrations alike turned to mobilising natural resources to improve the life of their people.

As the limits to the water supplies available for meeting competing demands were realised it began to be forecast that "future wars might well be fought over water resources". Asia, the continent containing over 60 per cent of the world's population, with 20 per cent each in China and the South Asian subcontinent, has potentially the most serious problem in this regard.

It may be recalled that following independence in 1947, the issue of sharing the waters of the Indo-Gangetic water system arose and was resolved only through the good offices of the World Bank that promoted lengthy negotiations culminating in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

This treaty was not viewed favourably by exponents of international law as it violated the principle of safeguarding the rights of lower riparians. India was able to press its case by taking the water resources of the Indus river system as a whole, and as there were canals from two eastern rivers, Ravi and Sutlej irrigating substantial areas in Pakistani Punjab, Pakistan had to construct major dams on the Indus (Tarbela) and Jhelum (Mangla) to transfer water to the Ravi and Sutlej.

While the Indus Waters Treaty has worked reasonably well India has been interfering with the waters of the three western rivers, on the plea that the people of occupied Kashmir have needs also. The fact that Kashmir is a disputed territory has not inhibited it from coming up with water and energy projects that have given rise to new items in the agenda of bilateral differences, such as Wullar Barrage, Baglihar dam, and most recently the Kishenganga project.

In the emerging scenario, India has the ability to pressure Pakistan on water issues, but its long-term energy requirements require transit facilities through Pakistan for oil and gas pipelines from Iran and Central Asia.

As the concept of security now covers assured access to both water and energy resources, this demands a virtual transformation of Indo-Pakistan relations from one of confrontation to that of cooperation. Indeed, the increasingly powerful industrial elite in India is in favour of the integrated management of the water and energy resources of South Asia, and the adoption of a conciliatory and cooperative attitude, rather than an assertive one towards its neighbours.

Both countries are stepping up their efforts to develop water resources, both for generating hydro-electric energy and for human consumption and irrigation. Pakistan's total hydel energy potential is 30,000MW of which only about 6,000MW have been developed. There is need for harmonious management of available resources of water and energy, and for Pakistan, it is imperative that the interest of Afghanistan is kept in view as its main river, the Kabul, is a tributary of the Indus. India would have to keep in view the interests of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

In the current phase, the US is backing India in developing nuclear power, while Pakistan would have to rely on China. There is a role for the great powers, including Japan and Russia, in transferring technology.

Together with other challenges of the environment, including global warming, degradation caused by poverty, and desertification, the management of water and energy resources in overcrowded parts of the planet must assume a high priority if our economic and social goals are to be achieved.

The writer is a former ambassador.

Taming the new capitalism

Whatever the rights and wrongs, the present controversy in Britain about buying companies using private equity has generated a rare public debate in which the protagonists are actually listening to each other. Such deals have already seen household names such as the AA and Little Chef taken over -- with Sainsbury's mooted as the next target -- and have naturally provoked opposition from unions fearing job losses.

Instead of denying this, Michael Gordon, chief executive of Fidelity Investment, actually admitted that "employees are a little further down the pecking order in private equity". In Friday’s Financial Times two private-equity groups put their heads above the water. Permira, Europe's biggest -- which owns New Look and the AA -- pledged to provide more information about what it owned in response to criticism that private-equity firms were not required to make quarterly reports as publicly quoted companies are.

Steven Rattner, co-founder of Quadrangle, while rigorously defending private equity as "a constructive force in making capitalism work" admitted that at the moment there was a "credit-fuelled bubble driving private-equity deals that would not happen in a normal credit market".

To cap it all, Britain's biggest charity, the Wellcome Trust -- also the biggest institutional owner of private-equity buyout funds in the UK -- warned against changing the tax treatment of these funds.

—The Guardian, London