Water theft does take place but on the canals within each province; no province can take water of another province.
LAHORE: Sindh often complains of being the lower riparian at the mercy of the upper riparian Punjab. The terms, upper and lower riparian, apply only when the upper riparian controls the river flows, as in the case of India and Pakistan. In Pakistan, river water distribution is centralised; it is the federal body IRSA, which controls the release of water from the dams and the barrages. The provinces can only submit 10-day indents of their requirement to IRSA, which prepares a “distribution plan”, depending upon the availability of water and instructs Wapda to release water into the various canals accordingly. The provinces have no direct control over the supply to their canals. Water theft does take place but that is on the canals within each province; no province can take the water of another province.
Just as it does with the water stored at the Mangla and Tarbela dams, IRSA will distribute the 6.1maf stored at the Kalabagh Dam as per the shares determined under the Water Accord of 1991, with Sindh standing to receive an increased share in all future dams, with Punjab’s share being reduced. The fear that Punjab will take more water from the Kalabagh Dam because it is in Punjab is baseless.
Engr Khurshid Anwer
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2013.
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