Daily Times

KARACHI: Under the National Water Policy (NWP), no new water storage facility or a dam on Indus River is acceptable until and unless a consensus is developed among all stakeholders, particularly those in the lower riparian.

Murad Ali Shah, presiding over a preparatory meeting for Council of Common Interest (CCI) session scheduled to be held in Islamabad, said on Monday that Sindh and Balochistan have been already facing serious water issues.

The construction of new storage facilities and dams would further cause devastation in the two provinces. “We would not accept new water policy until and unless our proposed amendment is incorporated in it,” he maintained.

Irrigation Secretary Jama Shah, briefing the chief minister, said that amendments proposed by the Sindh government had been incorporated into the proposed NWP. These included provisions to secure katcha areas and their economies, preservation of delta area by proving sufficient supplies regularly and rainwater disposal arrangement in plains where it cannot be disposed of or diverted in the river.

He said that proposal given by Sindh chief minister to implement water apportionment accord of 1991 in its letter and spirit and to prevent its provision in para-2, from amendments and distortions at any level of forum.

The distribution of water as elaborated in the accord shall be adjusted proportionately and distributed to provinces accordingly.

The irrigation secretary said that an amendment proposed by chief minister was that ‘provinces are responsible for routine repair and maintenance of flood protection dykes, flood fighting and drainage. However in case of major catastrophic like 2010 flood, federal government will provide supplementary funds’ has not been incorporated into the revised draft policy.

Murad said that he would take up these issues again in the CCI meeting. He said that he was writing a letter to the prime minister with the request to formulate a policy under which new storages and dams would not be allowed without consensus among federating units. “The preface of the NWP should be that it recognises the internationally-accepted right of lower riparian on water.

“Any diversions/intervention in smooth flow of water would not be allowed until and unless consensus of all federating units, particularly lower riparian is achieved,” he said.

Another amendment as proposed by the Sindh government that ‘National Water Council shall be established with the composition: prime minister chairman, federal water and power minister, federal minister for climate change, federal minister of national food security and research, deputy Planning Commission, chief ministers of provinces, provincial irrigation ministers, private sectors members from water related disciplines as members and advisors/chairman Federal Flood Commission would be secretary of council. Prime Minister of AJK and chief minister of Gilgit Balitistan along with their irrigation or agriculture ministers will be invited to meeting of NWC as observers’.

According to NWC, review, coordination, and implementation of national water policy and national water sector strategy in the country and periodic updating of the same are also mentioned.

Recommending legislation, policies and strategies for water resources development and management in the country, national planning and coordination for water resources development and management activities among organisations concerned at federal as well as provincial levels to achieve objective of NWP, creating an enabling environment that shall promote broader multi-stakeholders participation and integrated water resources management with due consideration for environment and ecology, coordinating with organisations concerned responsible for controlling pollution of water bodies, including rivers, streams, lakes and ground water, managing centralised water resources database service and any other functions, which ICC may assigned to council is necessary.

The chief minister said that these suggestions should be incorporated in NWP.

Published in Daily Times, March 20^th 2018.