LAHORE: Water experts believe that India’s act of stopping flow of unused water of eastern rivers into Pakistan will not affect the country as the Indus Waters Treaty already gives it right to use water of the said rivers.

“The diversion and optimum use of water of eastern rivers (the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej) by India is not problematic for us as we are using our own share of water from the western rivers (the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum) under the Indus Waters Treaty,” Pakistan’s former federal secretary (water resources) Khawaja Shamail told Dawn on Monday.

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“Under the treaty Pakistan and India are to use water of western and eastern rivers, respectively. Our country has no issue whether they have stopped the flow of the unused portion (less than one million acre-feet) of the water of the eastern rivers into Pakistan or not,” Shamail, who recently retired from the post, added.

Indian Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal while talking to the media on Sunday had said 0.53 million acre-feet (MAF) of water of the eastern rivers that was flowing into Pakistan had been stopped. He had also said that the same unused water of Indian share, which was stopped, had been stored for drinking and irrigation.

Experts say the water already belongs to India under Indus Waters Treaty

Mr Shamail said that after the Pulwama attack, the Indian government was under severe public pressure regarding non-utilisation of its full share of water from the eastern rivers under the treaty.

“If we see unused water flow of eastern rivers into Pakistan, keeping in view the flood, normal and dry weather, the average amount of water will be around 1 MAF. During floods, normal and dry seasons, it comes to two to three MAF, 1 MAF and 0.50 MAF. The average remains at 1MAF unused water of eastern rivers that enters Pakistan. So if they have stopped 0.53 MAF unused water of their share from flowing into Pakistan, we have no problem,” he explained.

He was of the view that the flow of India’s unused water of eastern rivers’ into Pakistan, contaminated with industrial and domestic waste, was already causing environmental issues in our country.

“While this unused water is already polluted, draining out of our own waste—industrial, domestic etc is making it more polluted that is dangerous to our crops near the Ravi and the Sutlej. So it doesn’t matter whether they use their water fully or release it into Pakistan,” Mr Shamail maintained.

Former Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Jamaat Ali Shah said Indian act of stopping the water flow of eastern rivers into Pakistan was just like a fruit tree planted within a premises with a couple of its branches crossing over and hanging outside the wall.

“If they have managed to keep their whole fruit tree within their premises, we have no issue,” he said and added that the problem was the election that would be held in India in the days to come.

“The Modi-led Indian government is just doing politics on this issue by fooling its people through stopping flow of a meagre portion (0.53 MAF) of unused water of its own share of eastern rivers,” he said.

It may be mentioned that a three-member delegation of Pakistani experts, headed by Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Mehr Ali Shah, completed its general tour of inspection (from Jan 28 to Feb 1) to various hydropower projects — 1,000MW Pakal Dul, 48MW Lower Kalnai, 850MW Ratlay and 900MW Baglihar Dam on the Chenab Basin in India. Besides this, India, a couple of days before the Pulwama attack, also shared the design data of its three planned run-of-the-river hydropower schemes with Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty. These included Balti Kalan, Kalaroos and Tamasha hydropower projects which are planned to be constructed at Balti Kalan Nullah and Kalaroos Nullah at the Jhelum basin and Tamasha, a sub-tributary of the Indus river, respectively. Pakistan’s delegation, during its visit, also invited India to visit Kotri Barrage whenever it desires.

However, according to an official, who requested anonymity, the proposed visit of Indian experts (India’s commissioner for Indus waters and others) to Kotri Barrage may not be done keeping in view the tension prevailing between the two countries these days.

“Keeping in view the tension between the two countries after the Pulwama attack, I am of the view that they would not visit Kotri Barrage till normalcy of the situation,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2019