Pakistan Today

Upper and lower riparian

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 to the various canals accordingly. The provinces have no direct control over the supply to their canals. Theft of water 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 Mangla aand Tarbela dams, IRSA will distribute the 6.1 maf stored at Kalabagh dam as per the shares determined under the Water Accord of 1991, Sindh stands to get an increased share in all future dams by reducing Punjab’s share. The fear that Punjab will take more water from Kalabagh dam because the dam is in Punjab is without any basis.
ENGR KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore

Exit mobile version