The 116-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam was constructed in 1887 in Tamil Nadu and in 1895 on Kerala state land, but it was operated by the former government. Operational control of ‘all the waters’ was given to Madras (now Tamil Nadu) state on a 999-year lease by the British government to irrigate the barren farmland on its sides. The agreement was signed by the secretary of Madras state and the king of Travancore, under the British Raj.
So, it is not about the construction of a new reservoir on any river but the Kerala state says that the dam was too old and posed immense danger to millions of people living in the region, hence needs to be destroyed and rebuilt. This argument was opposed by Tamil Nadu on the basis that the dam was repaired; walls were strengthened in 1979 to hold more water. Interestingly, in the same period, several requests of the Punjab state to build new reservoirs and canals on the Indus were rejected by the British government.
Following a Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting and water accord in 1991, then prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his two important aides, Senator Mushaid Hussain and Wapda chairman General Zulfiqar Khan, visited Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where all three provincial assemblies consensually passed a resolution to drop the idea of the KBD.
The same idea came up during General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s government and again on May 9, 1998, the CCI decided to ask Wapda to formulate a strategy to market the KBD project. It was decided that several supplementary projects shall be reviewed and prepared simultaneously. The electronic media shall be used to project this and the civil society and political parties shall be consulted to formulate a consensus from all relevant stakeholders.
The entire deliberations of the honourable court, while disposing of nine different petitions, was one-sided, lacking knowledge and spirit of the context as well as the background of the conflict between Sindh and Punjab and the nature of political relationship of both riparian federating units.
The LHC judgment itself carried self-explanatory remarks when it resolved that “It is therefore directed that whilst implementing the afore-noted CCI decisions, the federal government shall faithfully strive to explore and devise an administrative framework and safeguards that allay the apprehensions, political or otherwise nurtured by concerned quarters about the KBD”. It meant that the Court realised the fact that political dimensions of the project shall be kept in mind.
Those who have thoroughly reviewed the judgment can easily say that the decision was based on the arguments and papers presented by the petitioner and the CCI office carrying several documents by Wapda, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), the federal ministry of water and power, Sindh and the Punjab irrigation departments without having prior knowledge of the background and context of the political relationship of Sindh and Punjab as well as other international treaties, protocols and obligations which protect the rights of lower riparian on a shared river.
The courts must keep in mind that people of three small provinces rejected this project through their elected assemblies and they sacrificed a lot for the restoration of the judiciary in Pakistan. There is plenty of water in the system. The only challenge is to develop an effective water management system. Some quarters are not happy to see a smooth transition of power from one elected government to another and they want to exploit legal and constitutional frameworks to divide and rule Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2012.
COMMENTS (14)
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Tamilnadu almost won the case by bribing supreme court appointed and central water commission. IIT delhi and IIT Roorkee reports says that the dam is weak, central water commission used a report from the annnamali university in tamilnadu iteself as base reference. the dam was built with an expiry date of 50 years, but it is unbelievable that the contract signed for 999 years, agreement was betwen king of travancore and britishruled madras, dam has leak all over , the dam is built on a river which fully flows through kerala, so there is no claim abt the ownership, the tamilnadu make claims based on a lease agrement, but all the interstate agreement became invalid in 1950 according to indian law, CENTRAL WATER COMMISSION FOUND OUT THAT THE DAM IS STRONG AND JUST NEED REPAIRS, WHAT TO DO, it goes in favour of tn, as it has more no of mp seats in the parliment. kerala is ready to give water but tamil nadu wants to control the dam and dam area, and are also claiming the are , and now tamil immigrants are spreading in the region. so that they can claim the area later.
We can have consensus on NRO, 18th amendment, 19th and so forth. But we will never have consensus where general public can or will be benefited. The dire state of energy demands to have multiple mega hydro dam project including Kalabagh, Bhasa, Dasu, Neelam Jehlum and other small and medium size dams & water reservoir.
I can't comprehend about the provinces who are willing to waste 70-80% water each year which also causes a huge crops, and infrastructure loss, we are yet not willing to allow big dams as it might be more beneficial to Pakistan. This is narrow minded thinking, Punjab is also part of Pakistan. I am Pakistani and that is how we all should be thinking. Provincialism should not dominate over national interest. Sooner, we realize this reality, the better for our future generation.
@DevilHunterX: "Why is a dam political?" . Frailty and damn selfishness, period.
@Nadeem: Please lets not get into this Punjab vs KPK vs Sindh etc ANY? ALL dams are a national issue which the federal government should finance, furthermore all provinces should be free of Loadshedding and it does not make a difference who? uses more electricity, if you look at population figures Punjab has a higher population and as such will obviously use more electricity however this should not be at the expense of any other province all the provinces should have the same quality of life and status. Ultimately we have to accept that UNITY is the only answer if we are to prevent the rot currently pervading our federation, we also have to refrain from this tunnel vision of US and THEM! we are all Pakistani's and are all collectively responsible for the direction we take, after all what kind of Pakistan are we leaving for future generations?.
Why cannot we have a referendum on Kalabagh Dam ? It will settle the consensus issue once and for all.
There should be minimum 10 new Dams similar to size as Kalabagh on Indus river, new jobs, more cheap electricity, country moves forward. But no, we have some people who would prefer their own interests on country's interests. Face it, all provinces are like brothers; if Sindh, Balochistan or KPK grows, Pakistan grows and Punjab always gets happy. But if Punjab grows, Pakistan grows too but 'some' people gets jealous.
WHY? Oh WHY? is there such anti Kalabagh sentiments? even the author has presented a totally one sided and no-factual nonsensical summary of the courts, for gods sake people! Kala Bagh Dam is not proposed for Punjab! its for ALL of Pakistan. The High Court came to there decision based on the advice from experts in the field all the international experts have concluded that Kala bagh dam is an excellent proposal which will greatly benefit the people of Pakistan (not just Punjab)Anyone who looks at the demographics of the Kala bagh area will realize that this is an excellent site with minimal negative effect on the area.However some petty politicians have decided to Politicize the Dam. I have no preference which? court makes a ruling, be it Lahore/Peshawer/Karachi or Quetta makes a decision of national importance all i ask is that it be according to the constitution of Pakistan. I am a Pakistani Citizen neither punjabi/sindhi/pukhtoon or balouch only through this belief will we gain strength and Unity.
Why is a dam political?
Lahore High Court has a checkered history when it comes to do justice to parties belonging to other provinces. There are more than one Judgments which shows its inclinations and preferences rather than impartiality and above board decisions. These Judgments are given by Judges who grow with a particular mindset right from outset. It is a mindset of contempt for people of other regions. Just listen to the jokes in this part of the country and see the racial contents. The decision on KBD is a directive to create forced consensus otherwise it has already been rejected umpteem numbers of time.
Well written article exposing the inherent problems in the construction of KBD and suggesting to . Judiciary to exercise caution and avoid to indulge itself in the controversial issue like KBD. Being carried away by judicial over activism, guided by emotionalism rather than rationality, its decisions will further polarize the already fragmented society like ours. KBD is explosive matter which needs very rational approach to resolve it and one of the best approach will be Advocacy Coliation Framework. The best thing of this approach is that it tries to accommodate everyone by building consensus. This approach has been so successful in resolving so many controversial issues in different countries.
This is one of the best, factual and logical Op Ed on this subject. The HC of one province has no business to dictate a political solution that the rest of the three provinces have repeatedly rejected. Keeping with the dark history of LHC, the decision thwarted the authority of federation and both houses of the elected reps, which is the main place to solve this political hot potato. Sind delta is already suffering due to water shortage in the Indus. The only solution is to make several small dams to only collect the flood water during rainy season. In some cities of India the businesses collect rainwater and recycle it as it only rains in monsoon season.
Their hearts are divided their faiths are divded so are their intrests.Terbela and mangla dams were consructed without any obstruction.Then were Pakistan a secular place without religion in politics.The nation had a great sense of national solidrerity.But things changed after religion was nationalised.This nationalisation of relegion has completely devastated nation's moral and national thought.Face the heat or leave the country is a national consensus.
In the last paragraph the author reminds the court that the smaller provinces also sacrificed a lot for the restoration of judiciary. Therefore it is payback time as the author reminds the judge.