“Gas on water” (April 12) incisively analyses the Indus water dispute. The Indus Waters Treaty allocates water from the three western rivers to Pakistan, while allowing India to tap the considerable hydropower potential of Chenab and Jhelum rivers before they enter Pakistan. In case of the Baglihar Dam project, the finding of the neutral expert was essentially a reinterpretation of the treaty, saying that the physical limitations no longer made sense. While the finding was reasonable for Baglihar, it left Pakistan without the mechanism — limited live storage drastically reduced by silt — which was its only (although weak) protection against upstream manipulation of water flow in India.
It must be realised that hydropower does not consume water and, therefore, the fears of Pakistan are unfounded. Serious disputes exist over water sharing in Pakistan between Sind and Punjab provinces, and politicians in that country find it expedient to blame India. The Ministry of External Affairs recently exposed how various elements in Pakistan were using this issue to arouse hatred for India — they are propagating that New Delhi is deliberately depriving Islamabad of its share of water guaranteed under the international Indus Waters Treaty and thereby destroying its agrarian economy. The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has accused the Punjab province of using its physical control over dams and of using different tactics at different times to deprive Sind of its share of water.
M M Gurbaxani, Bangalore
