Indus was considered to be Sindhs river when five rivers flowed through Punjab. The situation changed drastically with the loss of three rivers to India. The debate about who sold the rivers is pointless because Pakistan was forced into paying for rive waters as early as in October 1947 under the Nehru-Liaquat Pact and later under the Inter Dominion Agreement of April 1948.
Presently, the whole country has to subsist on the remaining three rivers, of which only the Indus has surplus flows from Kabul, Swat, Chitral, Raho and Sohan rivers, plus a major portion of the 30 maf annual monsoon flow.
While Mangla was built as a replacement dam to partly make up for the loss of the three eastern rivers, Tarbela dam was built for future development of agriculture. By storing surplus flood waters it added 25 percent to the irrigation supplies, Sindhs share being 7 maf.
While Sindh was to get its share through the Indus itself, Kalabagh dam, Chashma and Taunsa barrages were to be built to transfer water from the Indus to the canals previously serviced by Ravi and Sutlej. To the canals in north Punjab through the left bank canal at Kalabagh dam, and to the canals in south Punjab through the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Panjnad link canals.
Without this transfer, two thirds of north Punjab will gradually revert from irrigated to barani, with a 50 percent loss in national food production. Around three million acres in upper south Punjab and 1.5 million acres in lower south Punjab will meet a similar fate.
Unfortunately, Sindh sees this transfer as an encroachment on its exclusive rights to the Indus which is quite contrary to the ground realities.
No headway on water infrastructure development will be possible unless this aspect is propagated extensively in the media, both print and electronic. The consequences of not doing so are unthinkable.
KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore