India Takes First Step Towards Indus Water Treaty Withdrawal

[bhramos]

Water dispute fuels India-Pakistan tensions
A bitter dispute over limited water resources is fueling India-Pakistan tensions at a time when the South Asian neighbors are trying to rebuild trust and resume peace talks.

It's a long-running feud that has worsened in recent months as a dry spell focuses attention on Pakistan's growing water shortage. Three days of talks in March ended with both sides trading barbs and failing to reach a resolution.
The issue was raised Thursday when the leaders of the two countries met at a regional summit in Bhutan and agreed on the need to normalize relations, the Pakistani side said.
Further complicating the situation, Islamic extremists are trying to capitalize on allegations that India is stealing water from glacier-fed rivers that start in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Independent experts say there is no evidence to support those charges, but they warn that Pakistani concerns about India's plans to build at least 15 new dams need to be addressed to avoid conflict.
"If you want to give Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistani militants an issue that really rallies people, give them water," said John Briscoe, who has worked on water issues in the two countries for 35 years and was the World Bank's senior water adviser.
Farmers in Pakistan's central breadbasket are certainly angry.
"India has blocked our water because they are our enemy," said Mohammad, a 65-year-old farmer in the town of Gujrat who goes by only one name.
His farm sits a few miles (kilometers) from the Chenab River, which residents say has been shrinking since India completed a hydroelectric dam in its part of Kashmir in 2008. In some sections, water flows in only a tenth of the river bed, and nearby irrigation canals have dried up.
Indian officials blame any reduction on natural variation and climate change, which have hurt India as well. They add that Pakistan's antiquated irrigation system wastes large quantities of water.
"Preposterous and completely unwarranted allegations of stealing water and waging a water war are being made against India," the Indian ambassador to Pakistan, Sharat Sabharwal, said in a speech in April.
The animosity over water could make it more difficult to resolve the signature dispute between the two countries: the decades-long struggle over Kashmir.
The United States has been seeking to reduce India-Pakistan tensions, hoping that would free Pakistan to move troops away from the Indian front to fight militants attacking U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan from sanctuaries near the Afghan border.
"The issues of Kashmir and terrorism are going to be much more difficult if we don't have an agreement on water," said water expert Briscoe, now a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.
The origin of the water dispute can be traced to the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, when the British Indian empire was partitioned. The split gave India control of the part of Kashmir that is the source of six rivers that irrigate crops in Pakistan's agricultural heartland of Punjab province and elsewhere.
Under a 1960 agreement, Pakistan has the use of the three western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — and India, the three eastern ones — the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi.
India was granted limited use of Pakistan's rivers for agricultural purposes, plus the right to build hydroelectric dams, as long as they don't store or divert large amounts of water.
Pakistan is one of the driest countries in the world, and water availability per person has fallen from about 5,000 cubic meters (175,000 cubic feet) in 1947 to around 1,000 cubic meters (35,000 cubic feet) today. Most of the drop is a result of rapid population growth, but recent shortages have heightened suspicion about India.
Pakistan's Indus water commissioner, Jamat Ali Shah, doesn't accuse India of stealing water, but he says India isn't providing information required under the 1960 pact to prove that it's not.
"There should be nothing in the track record that shows India has violated the treaty," said Shah. "But it is a fact that the track record is not clear."
India denies any intention to cut off water to Pakistan and maintains that it has complied with the treaty. But as with other issues between the two countries, mistrust runs high.
"If he has the capacity to hurt me, the best that can be said about him is that he will use it for blackmailing and the worst is that he will use it to harm me," said Shams ul Mulk, the former head of Pakistan's Ministry of Water and Power.
Briscoe said the dams India is planning to build could give it the ability to choke off water to Pakistan if it wanted to pressure its neighbor.
India should provide automatic flow data to Pakistan, he said, while also warning that heated rhetoric on the Pakistan side would only embolden extremists.
Jamaat-e-Dawa, an alleged front group for the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba organization, issued a statement recently accusing India of using "her disputed occupation of Kashmir to carry out a deep conspiracy of turning Pakistan's agricultural lands into barren lands and economically annihilating her through building dams and water theft."
"If India continues with her water terrorism," it added, "Pakistan must keep open the option of using force."

http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArti...rnational_April1576.xml&section=international

 

[bhramos]

Qureshi denies India stealing Pakistan's water

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday described the outcome of the latest Indo-Pak talks as more than expected and a step in the right direction, and said efforts will be made to build on it to bridge the trust deficit between the two countries.

Responding to a question, he said, India was not stealing Pakistan's share of water and it is being wasted due to mismanagement.

A day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in Bhutan and broke the ice, Qureshi said he intends to establish contact with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna as soon as the Indian Parliament's budgetary session concludes on May 7.

He said there was no need to accord any nomenclature like 'composite dialogue' to the talks that would be held shortly, but the intent is to discuss all outstanding issues like Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and water sharing.

"If all issues are to be discussed, whether you call it comprehensive dialogue, composite dialogue.. or whatever you want, that is not important. The spirit behind that is important, the spirit is right," he said at a press conference here.

Referring to the meeting between Singh and Gilani, Qureshi said the outcome has been "more than expected... it is a step in the right direction, a concrete development and we will build on it".

He pointed out that there has been a trust deficit between India and Pakistan and "we have to bridge it through confidence-building measures".

Acknowledging that the trust deficit cannot be bridged overnight, Qureshi said: "we have to be realistic and pragmatic. It will not happen in a day, it is a process. If we allow the process to continue, obviously with passage of time, the deficit will be narrowed down".

The two Foreign Ministers have been entrusted with the task of reducing the trust deficit, he said.

Responding to a question, he said he could find many faults in India's approach and vice versa but the two sides needed to prevent further deterioration in ties.

http://thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=103946

 

[ajtr]

Water dispute fuels India-Pakistan tensions
A bitter dispute over limited water resources is fueling India-Pakistan tensions at a time when the South Asian neighbors are trying to rebuild trust and resume peace talks.
"If you want to give Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistani militants an issue that really rallies people, give them water," said John Briscoe, who has worked on water issues in the two countries for 35 years and was the World Bank's senior water adviser.[/b]
Farmers in Pakistan's central breadbasket are certainly angry.
http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArti...rnational_April1576.xml&section=international

John Briscoe has writeen an article War or peace on the Indus? in The News.Singhji has posted some very good articles to counter John Briscoe arguments which is basically nothing but rabid pakistani view and here and here

 

[ajtr]

some fresh news about rapidly forming lake on Hunza river due to landslide this January

Experts fear sudden water outburst of lake​

Sunday, May 02, 2010
Noor Aftab

Islamabad

Even after 90 per cent of excavation work, the risk of sudden water outburst in newly developed large lake due to blockage of the River Hunza after massive landslide is still haunting the relevant departments as it can pose danger not only to thousands of people but also to Tarbela Dam, 50 kilometres northwest of Islamabad, sources told this scribe here on Friday.

According to sources, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and other departments, currently engaged in construction of spillways, took many weeks to remove major portions of debris and other material from the lake because engineers avoided use of heavy machinery or dynamites in the face of critical situation.

Sources stated that the relevant departments tried to complete construction of spillways till May 30, as signalled by various officials of the Ministry of Environment, but now they would take further two weeks for completion of their task.

The high-ups of all relevant departments during a meeting held under the chairmanship of Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi unanimously decided that no major blast technique would be used to clear the way of the River Hunza and instead spillways would be constructed for drainage of accumulated water.

The report presented by Professor David Petley of the International Landslide Centre at Durham University clearly stated that there was a substantive risk of water outburst with a potential for a large flood wave to travel downstream as far as Tarbela Dam, 50 kilometres northwest of Islamabad.

In his report, he stated that there was a substantive risk of an outburst event caused by the landslide dam in Hunza that was most likely during or shortly after water travelled across the spillway. However, such an event can be triggered by a range of other processes, some of which may provide little warning.

"If such an event occurs, there is the potential for a large flood wave to travel downstream as far as Tarbela Dam. This wave would greatly endanger the downstream population and can cause damage to infrastructure," it said.

The report further stated that populations located between the river level and the safe level should be evacuated prior to the arrival of the wave. It would require precautionary evacuations for those people living downstream of the dam and emergency evacuation plans for those living further downstream.

It suggested that a great deal of more work was urgently required in terms of the management of the hazard, in particular outside of the area between Attabad and Gilgit while constructing spillways for drainage of water.

According to official record, the Hunza River near Attabad was blocked due to a landslide that occurred on January 4 this year. The landslide created a water reservoir 11 kilometres long where water level has now increased up to 300 feet. The initial disaster buried the village of Attabad and submerged three miles of the Karakoram Highway, highly important for business activities in the summer season.

An expert from Geological Survey of Pakistan has already informed the Ministry of Environment that the region is also among the most seismically active in the world because it is located at the junction of the Asian and Indian geological plates, where the Himalaya, Karakorum and Hindukush mountain ranges meet.

Arshad H. Abbasi, a visiting research fellow at SDPI, said if the water goes out of the lake it would reach Tarbela Dam because the water waves can be as high as 40 metres or even more due to huge body of water behind a landslide dam.

FOCUS Pakistan that conducts regular geological survey and hazard assessments of vulnerable areas especially in the mountainous areas of northern Pakistan in its assessment report compiled in 2006 stated that there was a high risk of rapid movements and potential disaster but no one took pains to take any precautionary measure that resulted in massive landslide in the Hunza River.

The data provided by FOCUS showed that it has set up an early-warning system to alert villagers downstream in case the dam shows signs of collapse. A monitoring camp has also been set up above the lake equipped with CCTV and floodlights to monitor seepage or any unusual activity in the dam.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Spokesman Ahmad Kamal told this scribe that clearance of area or preparation of access way on slide for making spillway cut started on January 6 and 180,104 cubic meter excavation work has so far been carried out by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) that is almost 91% of total excavation work.

"You cannot go for adventure when level of water increasing constantly and there is a danger of sudden water outburst, so there is a need to take every step with extreme care to ensure every thing moves in the right direction," he said.

Giving details about newly developed lake, he said, the length of the lake is 12 kilometres and its height has reached up to 282 feet and current water inflow is 1,894 cusecs having seepage of 32 cusecs.

 

[maomao]

The great water debate

The great water debate


Flying over southern Pakistan in May and June, it feels your plane is crossing a large desert. A few weeks later, the monsoons transform this arid tract into lush farmland. In the spring, the Indus works its magic along the fabled valley, but for most of the year, much of Pakistan is dry and parched.

Water, after the air we breathe, is our most precious commodity. Life cannot be imagined without it, and vast areas of the planet are being stripped of greenery as the flow of rivers declines, and the rains fail. Drought has struck in different continents, and glaciers are melting at a rapid rate. In the subcontinent, we are balanced on a knife-edge as water resources are being depleted while the population soars unchecked.

Acutely aware of our precarious position, a lot of media attention is now focused on this issue. Much of this discussion, however, is ill-informed and emotional. The thrust of the narrative is that somehow, India is stealing our rightful share of the water that is due to us under the Indus Waters Treaty. This accusation is constantly bandied about despite the clear assertion from our officials charged with monitoring river flows into Pakistan that there has been no diversion of our water by India.

Nevertheless, this is a highly emotive issue, and needs to be dispassionately analysed. According to Tariq Hassan, an eminent lawyer: "Water is the most strategic issue facing the subcontinent. If there is a war here in the future, it will be over water." He makes the point that the treaty itself is inimical to Pakistan's interest, and should not have been signed by Ayub Khan. However, much (but dwindling) water has flowed down the Indus since the treaty was signed some 50 years ago.

Another take on the issue comes from John Briscoe, a South African expert who has spent three decades in South Asia, and has served as a senior advisor on water issues to the World Bank. In an article titled War or Peace on the Indus?, Briscoe places the matter in a political context:

"Living in Delhi and working in both India and Pakistan, I was struck by a paradox. One country was a vigorous democracy, the other a military regime. But whereas important parts of the Pakistani press regularly reported India's views on the water issue in an objective way, the Indian press never did the same. I never saw a report which gave Indian readers a factual description of the enormous vulnerability of Pakistan, of the way India had socked it to Pakistan when filling Baglihar"¦.

"Equally depressing is my repeated experience — most recently at a major international meeting of strategic security institutions in Delhi — that even the most liberal and enlightened of Indian analysts "¦ seem constitutionally incapable of seeing the great vulnerability and legitimate concern of Pakistan (which is obvious and objective to an outsider)"¦. This is a very uneven playing field. The regional hegemon is the upper riparian and has all the cards in its hands."

Briscoe makes the point that even though India was cleared of any technical violation of the treaty in building Baglihar dam by an international panel of experts its timing of the diversion of the river to fill the dam caused great hardship to farmers in Pakistan. He goes on to argue that as the upper riparian, India can and should do much more to reassure Pakistan that it has no intention of violating the letter or spirit of the treaty. Above all, Briscoe puts the onus on Indian opinion makers to do much more to explain the issues fairly to the Indian public.

What this debate overlooks is the rapid population growth in Pakistan since the treaty was signed in 1960. From some 50 million 50 years ago, the number of Pakistanis has more than tripled to around 175 million today. The result of this unchecked fecundity, as Ahmad Rafay Alam informs us in an article called 'Going down the drain' in a national daily, is that water availability per capita per year has declined from 5,000 cubic feet in 1960 to 1,500 cubic feet today. This will naturally decline still further as our numbers increase, while rivers won't suddenly bring more water, and nor are we likely to be blessed with more rainfall.

Alam writes: "Pakistan's water resource, the Indus basin, consists of glacial melt, and a far, far second, rainwater. Over 90 per cent of our water resource is employed in irrigation. Less than five per cent is employed for domestic purposes "¦ even less is employed in industrial processes"¦."

The fact is that just as Pakistan faces a future of dwindling water supplies, so does India. And if both countries are to solve their chronic power shortages, they will have to build dams. There is thus a need to develop deeper understanding about common problems and shared solutions. Given the deep distrust that separates the two countries, it is unlikely that any sane, rational solution will emerge any time soon. Meanwhile the situation will worsen with rising numbers and diminishing water availability. Tensions are bound to rise, and there might well be a media-fuelled clamour to somehow force India to release more water.

When hard times come, it is the sensible thing to tighten one's belt and prevent waste. Yet in Pakistan, according to Alam, some 40 per cent of irrigation water is either wasted or stolen. Recently, the Punjab government accused the Rangers of stealing water from a canal. Surely the government must move to reduce this leakage. Charging a higher price that reflects the scarcity value of water would help prevent waste. Agriculture is not unusual in many arid regions, so drip irrigation, for instance, is not rocket science.

Another fallacy that needs to be put to rest is that somehow, the water that flows down the Indus into the sea is wasted. The fact is that the co-mingling of the river and seawater has created a vast ecosystem that is essential for the survival of much marine life. This provides a livelihood to thousands of fishermen. Whenever the flow of the Indus has ceased, seawater has flooded the coast, devastating thousands of acres of farmland.

Farmers in Sindh do not trust Punjab, and regard the Indus as their river, as it was until partition. So we must develop greater understanding between the provinces of Pakistan before we can expect our neighbour to live up to its obligations as the upper riparian.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect...nists/irfan-husain-the-great-water-debate-150

 

[Yusuf]

Why should India be held responsible for senseless wastage of water in Pakistan. Also its not Indias fault that we are the upper riparian state. Why is that held against us? What kind of assurance does pakistan need from India when its clearly there in history that in spite of wars and tension for the last 60 years, India has not used the Indus as a weapon.

 

[ajtr]

India snubs Pak over hydro project ​

In a clear message to Pakistan to keep its hands off the Kishanganga dam project, India is going ahead with the construction of the 330-MW hydroelectric power plant on the river in north Kashmir.
Pakistan has threatened to move the International Court of Arbitration to get the project work stopped, citing an alleged violation of the Indus Water Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, of 1960 that empowered Islamabad to monitor the usage of the three rivers — Jhelum, Chenab and Indus — that flow from Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
Kishanganga, which is called Neelam in Pakistan, is a tributary of the Jhelum.
The treaty also empowered India with full control over the waters of three Punjab rivers — Ravi, Sutlej and Beas.
"We are not going to halt the work. It will go on in full pace," Minister of State for Power Shabir Ahmad Khan, who recently held discussions with Union Power Minister Shushilkumar Shinde on the issue, told HT. "We have not violated any provisions of the treaty."
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the National Assembly in Islamabad on Tuesday, as reported by Dawn newspaper, that Pakistan would move the international court to stop the work.
This is not the first time Pakistan is crying foul over river water projects.
Pakistan raised objections when the Baglihar power project work on Chenab river started, and took the issue to the World Bank.
"What came out of that?" Khan said. "Pakistan was told that no violation had taken place. In February 2007, a World Bank arbitrator upheld the Indian design and size of the Baglihar project."
The tunnelling work of the project is in progress. The 22-km long-diversion tunnel will bring the Kishanganga water to the powerhouse at Dawar, 200 km from Srinagar, and then to Wullar lake.

 

[ajtr]

Water terrorism​

ONE obvious reason why New Delhi has so easily been able to wrong-foot us on the water dispute is because of our laid-back attitude and docility. While the leadership at the top is in a state of denial, evident from Foreign Minister Qureshi's apologetic posturing during the recent round of talks with India, the role played by Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah leaves much to be desired. No doubt, he has warned that the construction of Kishanganga dam on river Jhelum, which would divert water to Wullar lake, would seriously affect the flow of water downstream and reduce 15 percent of Pakistan's total energy generation capacity. But this warning should have been made earlier. He has said that if neutral experts are appointed, it would take at least six months to set up an international court of arbitration. What was he doing all this time while the Indians were trying to exact a heavy toll on our economy? Wasn't 2008, when Baglihar dam cut off 200,000 acre-feet of water and caused a severe food crisis the right time to take up the matter to the international court?
The Indian obduracy on Kishanganga and scores of other dams in contravention of the Indus Waters Treaty needs to be challenged on all available fronts. We can also counter it by building mega-water reservoirs of our own, which could inevitably help cope with the drought like conditions. But the pity is that no one seems to be realizing this.
This worrying picture must have provoked Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to talk about Kalabagh dam, but again he stopped short of highlighting its importance, except for saying in hushed tones that it would only be counterproductive if built without consensus. However, leaders of Mian Shahbaz's stature should not be merely saying this; they should be working to bring it about. The moment responsible politicians start speaking in its favour, a key step to snub the troublemaking opponents and pave the way for its construction will have been taken.

 

[ajtr]

Protest against India​

Monday, May 10, 2010
By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

MUTTAHIDA Kissan Mahaz (MKM) has announced a protest rally along the Indo-Pak border line against Indian water aggression. A press release on Sunday said the MKM leadership declared to stage the rally in the Pakistan Water Movement Conference. The rally will be staged from the bordering town of Baidiyaan till Ganda Singh Wala. President MKM Ayub Khan Mayo said the Indian actions in violation of the Indus Water treaty were totally unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest way possible. He said that the silence of the Pakistani government over this issue raised a lot of questions.

He said that it was evident that the Pakistani government was being pressured by western powers not to launch any objection at any level against the Indian water aggression. The agriculture, textile and power sector are suffering at the hands of illegal acts of India and the people of Pakistan will not sit it out as a silent spectator like the government but will rage massive protests and demonstrations until the government takes a clear and stern stance on this issue and curtails the Indian from hampering Pakistan's interests.

 

[nitesh]

ok guys here is the proof who is deciding Pakistan's policies it is the terrorists:

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-n...lish-online/lahore+(The+Nation+:+Lahore+News)
..............
The APC convenor Hafiz Saif Ullah Mansoor presided over the meeting which was particpated by Prof Hafiz Abdul Rehman of Jamat-ud-Dawa, Inudus River Water Council chairman Hafiz Zahoor-ul-Hassan, Muttahida Kisan Mahaz president Muhammad Ayub Khan, Dr Farid Paracha of Jamat-e-Islami, Allama Zubair Ahmad Zaheer of Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadees, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf senior vice president Ejaz Ahamd Chaudhry, PPP central secretary information Dr Fakhar Uddin, PML-N Kisan Wing president Major (r) Zulifqar Ali Shah and others spoke on the occasion. Hafiz Abdul Rehman said India had planned to destroy the next generation of Pakistan under the umbrella of ceasefire and bilateral relation. During the Musharraf's regime, India had constructed Baghlehar and Kishan Ganga dams and present government was also trying to make bilateral relations with India through dialogue.
.................................

 

[Iamanidiot]

another 26/11 ask the InAF to take a ir strikes in pakistan military and terrorist targets includedand withdraw back to our borders and wait wit the army lets see what the PA will be able to do next

 

[ajtr]

Water and Kashmir​

tuesday, May 11, 2010
Dr Syed Nazir Gilani

India and Pakistan are locked in a serious clash of claims over water in Jammu and Kashmir. Water resources are not unlimited and available forever. The actual stewardship of water resources in any part of Kashmir rests with the people of Kashmir. It is unfortunate that Srinagar and Muzaffarabad governments have failed to defend the manner and extent to which the people of Kashmir are entitled to have a role in the use of their water resources at Mangla, Baglihar and Diamir.

It is a violation of trust that India and Pakistan have been taking unilateral decisions in regard to water as a natural resource in Kashmir. Both countries have failed to incorporate the right of the people of Kashmir in the management of water uses and water-related activities under the Indus Water Treaty.

In 1995, Ismail Serageldin, then vice president of the World Bank, made a prediction that "if the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water." He may not have been far off the mark.

Water in Eastern culture is seen as sacred and this culture treats its provision as a duty for the preservation of life. In contrast, the West and its associates conform to a culture where water is seen as a commodity and its ownership and trade as a fundamental corporate right. Water in our culture is given from earthen water pots as a free gift to the thirsty. Hindus have Jal Mandirs (water temples), part of an ancient tradition of setting up free water stands in public areas. This is a common practice among Muslims as well.

Obviously a culture treating water as a commodity has to clash with cultures of sharing, receiving and giving water. Therefore, water wars are cultural wars and global wars. An economic fascism is out to destroy people's right to their water resources. It is much more important when disputed and trust territories among other resources have water brutally ravaged. The water resources in the state of Jammu and Kashmir are being exploited at Mangla, Baglihar and Diamir by all the three administrations on the two sides of the LoC.

On Aug 21, 1957, the government of India complained to the United Nations that Pakistan was about to build Mangla Dam in the disputed territory under Pakistani control. The Indian complaint added that "the execution of the Mangla Dam Project by the government of Pakistan was a further instance of Pakistan's consolidating its authority over the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir and of the exploitation of the territory to the disadvantage of the people of the state and for the benefit of the people of Pakistan." The complaint added that Pakistan's action was in violation of the Security Council's Resolution of Jan 17, 1948, and of the assurances given to India by the chairman of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP).

Less than three years later, India reversed its earlier position and entered into a water treaty, on the waters of Kashmir, with Pakistan in April 1960. The Indus Water Treaty was brokered by the World Bank. By concluding the Indus Water Treaty with India, Pakistan in practice accepted the sovereignty of India over Kashmir's water resource.

The use of water in the Indus Water Treaty has not been aligned on a principled, fair and just basis. It does not recognise the interests of the affected people (Kashmir) and has failed to develop a mechanism to include those interests in water allocation decision.

Under the Treaty the government of India on its part has breached the trust embedded in the instrument of accession (a disputed bilateral agreement). Under the Indus Water Treaty the government of India reversed its stated position on Kashmir. India cannot trade a natural resource of Kashmir with Pakistan, or vice versa. Pakistan's trust obligations too restrain it from violating any resource in its trust jurisdiction.

The water dispute at Mangla, Baglihar and Diamir has made keener the Kashmiri people's interest in their natural resource. They feel being driven to economic insecurity, cultural subordination and ecological dispossession. Water exploitation is fast spreading as a virus of hate.

Kashmiris are not averse to the welfare of the people of Pakistan or the people of India. Our stand on the Mangla, Baglihar and Diamir disputes is based on the jurisprudence of the habitat and the water resources embedded in it. We will have to argue for a corresponding and reciprocal benefit of compensation due to the people of Kashmir. India and Pakistan should embrace and honour the welfare of the Kashmiri people, which includes the use or preservation of water as a natural resource.

Kashmiri interest is incremented and guaranteed by our bilateral agreement with the government of India and Pakistan's "assumed responsibilities in Azad Kashmir" and its responsibilities under the Karachi Agreement on Gilgit and Baltistan.

The World Bank has made an error in not taking into consideration the jurisprudence of the Kashmir dispute and of the use of its resources without assuring a corresponding benefit for the Kashmiri people. Water resources are not unlimited. It is a genuine argument that the Indus Water Treaty promotes inequity. At the same time, it has failed to preserve and protect water resources and the environment.

Water resources in the natural habitat of Kashmir need to be defended as an integral part of self-determination.

 

[ajtr]

J&K CM calls for assessment of Indus Water Treaty's financial impact

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called for an assessment of the financial impact of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) on Jammu and Kashmir.

"We don't know the quantum of the losses suffered by Jammu and Kashmir on account of the treaty. There are no definite estimates," he told a seminar in Srinagar on Tuesday.

He said some sources have estimated a loss of Rs 800 billion while some have made estimates of Rs 200 billion. "We need to assess the losses and explore ways to seek compensation if the compensation is needed at all," he said. He also asked India and Pakistan to review the treaty, which bars IHK from harnessing its abundant water resources. Meanwhile, opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti accused Abdullah's party National Conference (NC) of selling IHK's water resources to New Delhi for a paltry sum.

 

[ajtr]

Work apace on 330 MW K'ganga project​

Srinagar, May 15: Rejecting Pakistan's claims that Kishenganga power project in North Kashmir was violating the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), the State government Saturday said the work on the 330-MW project would continue as it did not violate IWT provisions.


The government also said that it was seriously pursing to seek transfer of Dulhasti and Salal power project to the State to overcome power crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The work on Kishenganga power project is going on under the provisions of IWT," Principal Secretary Power, B R Sharma told Rising Kashmir.

He said there has been no violation of IWT and the work on the project will not be stopped. "The Indian Commissioner for IWT has made it clear that the work on Kishengana project by NHPC was being carried out within the provisions of IWT."

Sources said the Government of India had sought a detailed report from NHPC, Commissioner IWT and JK government about the present status of Kishenganga project. "GoI sought the report after Pakistan threatened to move the International Court of Arbitration to stop the work on the power project. After the report cleared that Kishenganga project did not violate IWT provisions, the GoI asked the constructing agency (NHPC) to go ahead with the project," they said.

As per IWT, brokered by World Bank in 1960, Pakistan was empowered to monitor the usage of three rivers — Jhelum, Chenab and Indus — that flow from JK to Pakistan. The treaty also wrested full powers to India to use three Punjab rivers — Ravi, Sutlej and Bias.

Sharma said the State government was strongly following the recommendations of Rangarajan committee constituted by Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh. "The committee has strongly recommended that Dulhasti and Salal power projects be returned to Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

In the first phase, Sharma said, the government will try to get back 390 MW Dulhasti project on river Chenab in Kisthwar district. "Later, we will try to seek the return of Salal also," he said.

He said Dulhasti, if returned to State, will help the government in overcoming power crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

[ajtr]

For People who are interested to read the full text of the complete treaty from the following link below:
world bank site where IWT doc can be found


Indus Waters Treaty - Articles and Annexures

THE INDUS WATER TREATY



Full text of articles (850kb)
Preamble
Article I Definitions
Article II Provisions regarding Eastern Rivers
Article III Provisions regarding Western Rivers
Article IV Provisions regarding Easter Rivers and Western Rivers
Article V Financial Provisions
Article VI Exchange of Data
Article VII Future Cooperation
Article VIII Permanent Indus Commission
Article IX Settlement of Differences and Disputes
Article X Emergency Provisions
Article XI General Provisions
Article XII Final Provisions
Annexure A - Exchange of Notes between Gov.of India and Gov. of Pakistan
Annexure B - Agricultural use by Pakistan from certain Tributaries of the Ravi
Annexure C - Agricultural use by India from the western rivers
Annexure D - Generation of Hydro-Electric Power by India on the western rivers
Annexure E - Storage of Waters by India on the western rivers
Annexure F - Neutral Expert
Annexure G - Court of Arbitration
Annexure H - Transitional Arrangements
Annexure H - Appendix II

 

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Upsurge in lake as glacier collapses​

Traders unload their goods at a temporary port along a lake caused by landslide in the Hunza district of northern Pakistan. Panicked people took everything they could carry, even doors and windows, as a lake threatened to flood dozens of villages in northern Pakistan, officials and witnesses said. –AFP Photo

HUNZA: Water flow in the lake formed after a landslide blocked the Hunza River early this year rose by a staggering 3,100 cusecs on Monday when an upstream glacier-lake burst, fuelling fears that more areas in the Gojal valley will be submerged.
Already there were reports that property and orchards in low-lying areas of Shishkat, Gulmit, Ghulkin and Hussaini had been submerged.

Seepage at six points in the debris of the landslide has increased to 150 cusecs. About 23 feet of the freeboard still remains to be overtopped by the lake.

A boat service to the landlocked Gojal tehsil was suspended on Monday due to the inclement weather.

Officials said that the helicopter service would be resumed once the weather improved. The region saw heavy rain on Monday.

The depth of the 18km lake has reached 350 feet and the daily inflow in the lake surged to 3,100 cusecs, up from 2,300 cusecs, due to the glacier-lake burst on Monday.

 

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Possible lake breach threat to ancient rock carvings​

Thursday, May 20, 2010
Nisar Mahmood

PESHAWAR: Like other precious properties and infrastructure, many ancient rock carvings on Karakoram Highway (KKH) are at the risk of being washed away because of potential threat of flood from the artificial Attaabad lake in Hunza valley in Gilgit-Baltistan.

These rock carvings are over 2,000-year old. Some of them consist of animal figures, circles and hunting scenes. While on some rocks figures of Buddha, Budhisattvas stupas, ancient inscriptions, Buddhist devotees, etc are inscribed.

A young archaeologist-cum-journalist and explorer, Muhammad Usman Mardanvi, has released the photographs of the carvings which show how these remained preserved despite centauries.

"The possible flood by Attaabad lake may cause them damage or wash them away from surface of the earth," feared Usman, who has done his master's in history, archaeology and serves as tour adviser as well.

These carvings situated on main Karakoram Highway at Ganesh in Hunza, Shatial in Chilas, Khunjerab, Gilgit and other points have long history and great archaeological importance, said Usman, also editor of Pashto language magazine, 'Pasun', while talking to The News by phone. The carvings are in 12 different calligraphies like Kharoshti, Sharda and Gupta, etc, some of them as old as belonging to 100 AD.

Different pilgrim caravans passing through the Silk Route had inscribed the carvings on huge stones as mark of their stay or journey from time to time. Since Silk Route has been the ancient communication link between China, Central Asia and South Asia and different caravans would use this way for trade and other purposes like pilgrimage it has historical importance.

Like the route the rock carvings are also of great archaeological and historical importance. These carvings remind the old days when caravans would cover hundreds of miles by foot or by riding animals. And any kind of damage to these carvings may wash away a history of hundreds of years preserved in the rocks on KKH.

 

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Possible breach in Hunza Lake​

Hazara people leaving homes

Friday, May 21, 2010
Our correspondent

MANSEHRA: Hundreds of families have left their homes for safer places in upper parts of Hazara because of potential threat of Hunza lake rupture.

The evacuation process started Thursday, with people moving to safer places after administrations in Kohistan, Battagram and Mansehra made announcements via loudspeakers. The people living on the banks of River Indus in upper parts of the region would be shifted to camps established in tents and educational institutions.

Kala Dhaka Administrator Tasleem Khan said the repatriation process had been initiated in the district and semi-tribal area of Kala Dhaka. He said five tented camps had been established for 2,700 families at Dudba Mera, Nawa Killay, Akazai, Chuskhand Hasssan and Madarah Kalwal in Kala Dhaka.

Tasleem Khan said that for 13,800 people of 20 villages in Darband, two big tented villages were established at Bradar and Chonia areas and four truckloads of food and other items were also dispatched there. He said the people were not being shifted to these camps so far, adding that all affected families might be shifted to the camps gradually.

In Battagram, 115 families have been shifted to safer places from different parts of Thakot and Allai. Sources said the provincial disaster management authority had provided the district administration 1,000 flour bags, 312 oil packets each weighing 16kg, 100 packets of dates, 300 tents and 1,000 food packets.

 

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Omar: assess losses to J&K from Indus Waters Treaty​

Shujaat Bukhari


Omar Abdullah
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday asked officials to assess the losses to the State on account of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960.

"Time has come to formally assess all the losses which the Jammu and Kashmir State has suffered in sequel to the Indus Waters Treaty, by utilising the services of reputed consultants so that the authentic figure of such losses is projected at relevant meetings for compensation whatever becomes due," Mr. Abdullah said, chairing a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKPDC).

Mr. Abdullah approved the proposal for streamlining and reorganisation of the JKPDC so that it would emerge as one of the ideal and powerful corporations like the J&K Bank, and all the staff were able to enjoy full incentives and job benefits. He stressed upon the need for generating full efficiency in the Corporation to achieve the target of tapping 3,000 MW of power during the next four years. It would not only make J&K self-sufficient in hydel power also help it earn huge revenue out of surplus power.

The meeting was informed that the JKPDC was geared up to clear all projects on a fast-track basis, so that the target fixed for harnessing the rich hydel potential of the State was achieved in a time-bound manner.

All formalities, including tariff bidding, had been completed to kickstart the ambitious 690 MW Ratlay power project. The State would be able to receive 15 per cent free power and additional 1 per cent cost would be spent on the development of Kishtwar area, where the Ratlay project was being launched. Similarly, 55 per cent power would be provided to the State on Rs.1.44 per unit.

The Chief Minister directed the JKPDC to take up the challenge and start seriously working for making the State one of the ideal and efficient power-generating States.

He said wherever new power projects were being taken up special attention would be made to develop the area as well and create ideal developmental infrastructure in the particular area. The Chief Minister said he was satisfied with the road map which had been presented for developing different power projects.

The Board also reviewed the construction work of the Baglihar stage II Power Project. The JKPDC was determined to ensure completion of the project within the targeted period of 2012.

The Board also reviewed 93 MW Ganderbal and 240 MW Karthai power projects.

 

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Today's Review of NHPC

Chutak H.E. Project (44MW), Jammu & Kashmir

· Barrage & Power House excavation completed and concreting is in progress.

· HRT excavation completed and lining is in progress.

· Power house excavation completed & 29% concreting completed.

· Other Design, Engineering & Fabrication works are in progress.

· The project is expected to be completed by February, 2011.

.......

6. Uri H.E. Project Stage-II (240 MW), Jammu & Kashmir

· Dam excavation & concreting completed. HRT and Power House excavation completed and concreting under progress.

· TRT excavation almost completed and overt lining in progress.

· Erection of EOT Crane in Service Bay and in Unit-1, 2 & 3 has been completed.

· Other Design & Engineering and fabrication of E&M (Electrical& Mechanical) and HM (Hydro Mechanical) works are in progress.

· The project is expected to be commissioned by February, 2011.

I hope they remain committed to the schedule.None of this is in any violation of IWT.

Projects under construction
PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION



Project ---------- State --------- Capacity



Nimoo-Bazgo ---------- Jammu & Kashmir ---------- 45 MW

Chutak ---------- Jammu & Kashmir ---------- 44 MW


Nimoo Bazgo (45 MW) and Chutak (44 MW) located in Jammu & Kashmir state have been registered by CDM Executive Board of United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).


Kishanganga ---------- Jammu & Kashmir ---------- 330 MW

Sewa-II ---------- Jammu & Kashmir ---------- 120 MW

Uri-II ---------- Jammu & Kashmir ---------- 240 MW

**Thx chanakay for his comments @ BR..