THIS is with reference to the article ‘Disrupted rhythms of the Indus’ (June 18) which has presented a very simplistic view of the Indus and the irrigation system built around it. The human interventions were made necessary due to two basic aspects – to increase the size of fertile land in the valley, and to control the river’s erratic behaviour.

In its natural form, the reach of the Indus and its few naturally-flowing ‘inundation or flood canals’ was limited, which was unable to meet the growing demand for food in the region. Then, due to constant variations in rainfall and other climate-related factors, the Indus valley fluctuated between dry and flood seasons.

The first such intervention was the Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC) construction in 1859, which alone irrigated about one million additional acres of land. In addition, new canals were constructed, and the old ones were improved as well as rehabilitated.

The result of these interventions was that within a span of just 25 years, from 1875 to 1900, vast tracts of barren lands in both Punjab and Sindh were converted into fertile lands. In Sindh alone during these years, the irrigated area doubled from 1.5 million acres to three million.

The Sindh-Punjab differences on Indus waters are old and not a post-1960 scenario. It was in October 1939 that the Sindh premier (as the chief ministers used to be called back then) Allah Bakhsh Soomro had formally complained to Viceroy Linlithgow.

He said that the effects of Punjab’s new projects, when superimposed upon the full effects of its projects already approved or executed, would cause the lowering of water levels in the Indus River from May to October, seriously affecting the efficient working of Sindh’s inundation canals.

He had further complained that the Thal and Haveli projects would create a severe water shortage in Sukkur in winter and would interfere with the supplies required by the Sukkur Barrage canals.

The Sindh premier requested the viceroy to constitute a commission under the Government of India Act 1935 to address Sindh’s Indus water-related concerns. Acceding to his request, the viceroy formed the Indus Commission, with Justice B.N. Rau of the Calcutta High Court as its chairman, in September 1941.

This commission gave its report in July 1942, endorsing Sindh’s concerns to an extent; not entirely. But both the provinces rejected the report. As a last-ditch effort, it was decided that the chief engineers of both provinces should meet and resolve this issue amicably. The chief engineers met several times from 1943 to 1945 to iron out the differences and finally came out with a mutually agreed ‘draft agreement’ in September 1945.

However, their governments did not endorse their proposals. This compelled the viceroy in early 1947 to refer the dispute to London for final adjudication. But it was too late by then for London to play any role in this regard.

The inter-provincial water issues can be resolved amicably only if the two provincial leaderships engage proactively in the larger national good.

Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2021