APROPOS the editorial ‘Beyond Kalabagh dam’ (June 19). Many factors are responsible for the existing water scarcity. In the first place, the failure is on the part of public policy formulators, who never took serious note of the fact that water would soon become scarce not only for irrigation but also for drinking purposes.

The water bureaucracy as well as political leadership ignored World Bank and International Monetary Fund warnings and dispatches (reported in June 16 and 19issues) on the emerging situation.

It seems, after commissioning Tarbela Dam, our government went into slumber while India exploited the remaining water resources by building dams and reservoirs on the eastern rivers of the Indus basin system. Our political leadership failed to respond to the looming threat as India commissioned Kishanganga on the Jhelum and stopped the optimum flow of river Chenab on the pretext of generating hydel power. Our leadership did not vigorously protest against these aggressive Indian acts.

Our bureaucracy ceased to play a proactive role, as successive democratic governments appointed cartels and cliques of politically aligned and loyal public servants at key positions totally disregarding merit or professionalism. As a result administrative inertia devoured imaginative thinking and dynamism among civil servants who yielded to political compulsions instead of focusing on critical issues facing the country.

The emphasis on research and developing innovative technologies and strategies to improve existing systems to boost agriculture and efficiently use water resources fell victim to these factors. Strangely, even now, no action is being contemplated at the federal or provincial level, to deal with the water emergency.

Ironically, the political parties and their leaders have made no mention of this issue, as they enter the 2018 elections. Such criminal indifference to a critical issue of national importance is akin to moral bankruptcy of both public servants and politically elected public representatives.

Naguib Ullah Malik
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2018