THATTA: PPP Senator Dr Karim Khwaja has said the country is teetering on the edge of a water crisis because of raging disputes between Pakistan and India over sharing trans-boundary rivers.

If the Indus Water Treaty signed between the two countries in 1960 was followed in letter and spirit, it still provided a good foundation for the resolution of water disputes between two archrivals, he said.

The senator was speaking to journalists here on Friday about his address to the “7th World Water Forum 2015” held in the Republic of Korea from April 12 to 17.

Hr said that he told the forum that it was need of the hour to revise the water treaty which came into being after marathon talks held under the auspices of the World Bank and supported by major world powers.

Underlining the gravity of the situation, he said that some parts of Sindh like Karachi’s Malir area had already gone under water while threat loomed over Thatta, Sujawal and Badin districts and it was feared the areas would sink into water by 2050.

Likewise, he said, over the past 35 years, almost two kilometres of coastline near Sindh and Balochistan and two million acres of land in Sindh had been swallowed up by the sea.

The water treaty had served well over many decades until India took advantage of some of its provisions and initiated the projects of Kishanganga, Baglihar and Wullar (dams) that once again revived water related tensions between the arch foes, he said.

Dr Karim said that he told the audience the situation continued to get worse despite involvement of a neutral expert and Pakistan’s recent move to take the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration (ICA).

He said that Pakistan was at the brink of water stress level and it was feared that by 2020 per-capita water availability might fall to 800 cubic meters. Pakistan had a capacity to store water for 30 days as compared to India’s capacity to store water for 120-200 days. Without proper water storage strategies, Pakistan would continue to tumble down the abyss, he said.

The ICA had allowed India to go ahead with Kishanganga dam but it had ordered the country to provide half of the dam’s water to Pakistan, he said.

He said that Pakistan had objected to the construction of the Kishanganga dam which would result in 14 per cent drop in flow of water for Pakistan’s Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project.

The Indian project would reduce energy generation by Neelum-Jhelum project by 13 per cent or 700 million units. Pakistan had also submitted facts and figures regarding water flow to the court but the issue remained pending, he said.

The senator said that it was need of the hour to draw attention of international community towards a favourable solution for Pakistan’s growing needs for water in future.

The World Water Forum could prove to be a stepping stone to gain such support. Action was required immediately through both legal and bilateral means for a progressive solution, he said.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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