Off- Channel Reservoirs & Flood Control
New
flood season is again on hand but we have yet not been able to get out of the disastrous
impacts of floods of 2010. With ongoing climatic changes and our consistent poor
record of flood protection measures, such calamity is expected to become a norm
instead of being an occasional happening. In this context, we need to have a
shared vision and action plan to convert this kind of serious threat into our
strength. This challenge can only be met if we develop storage capacity to
prevent floods for good.
At
present, flood management is generally geared towards the actions that are
taken before, during and after the occurrence of floods events. However, it is
equally important that the flood control steps should also include proactive
actions by creating feasible water storage capacity to prevent floods on
priority basis.
Why do
we need flood prevention as priority? Obviously, not preventing flooding is
extremely devastating as witnessed by an unfortunate history over the last 63
years. Before the current disastrous floods, there were about 15 events of
floods causing huge losses. However, the current episode, floods of 2010, were
the worst of all that have pushed us years back in the past.
In view
of disastrous history of floods, we need to move on from a traditional policy
of allowing selected losses while protecting critical assets. It is true that
this practice is necessary and it should remain in use in any case even if we have
exhausted all potential options for creating capacity to take in excessive
flows during a flood season. However, it
is very disappointing to note that there is not enough progress to report in creating
capacity for storing excessive flood waters before they can cause havoc along
different rivers and their respective tributaries.
Over the
last 4 decades, we are stuck in no-win situation between those who want dams to
be built across main rivers in the country and those who will oppose this idea without
any consideration of potential consequences. Obviously, no one in the country
would like to take this stand-off too far to endanger the federation of this
country but facts on ground are not very encouraging.
Unfortunately,
this situation has arisen because of self-defeating political positions taken by
different influential quarters based on either building or not building of
Kalabagh Dam at any cost. However, it is equally depressing to note that either
side got stuck with either all or nothing attitude and forgetting to propose
alternatives to get out of this no-win situation.
In order
to break this logjam, we need to count our available physical and institutional
assets to find a solution. As far as the physical assets are concerned, they
include: limited and silted dams, 42 canal command, 12 link canals and 5
barrages: a largest contiguous irrigation in the world. In any solution, these
assets will come very handy.
On the
institutional side, people can question about their fairness or otherwise, we
have conditions that can shape our alternative solutions in a big way. In
reality, we do have the following institutional conditions in place: (1) Indus
Water Treaty of 1960 between India and Pakistan that defines the allocation of
rivers instead of quantity of water within the Indus River System; (2) Water
Apportionment Accord of 1991 that allows quantity of water to be distributed between
four provinces of Pakistan after a continuous wrangling of almost a century;
(3) Equitable water river water distribution along main and secondary canals;
and (4) A permanent turn-system at watercourse command level to distribute
water equitably among farmers based on respective land owned.
Under the historic prevailing antagonistic
environment, consensus building for Kalabagh Dam seems extremely difficult.
Similarly, going for Bhasha Dam in a dangerous seismic environment is risking
the fate of country to a stone-age era. However, a cascade of hydro-electric
dams based on run-of-the-river flows is an undisputed option.
With
different national and international lobbies actively working hard to discourage
such development of hydro-infrastructure; we are challenged to come up with
innovative solutions to blunt such pressures. In order to prepare a favorable
context for letting all energies to generate solution, perhaps first step would
be that we all agree to set aside construction of Kalabagh Dam till all four provinces
agree to undertake this project. Other such confidence building measure would
be to make already installed telemetry system along the Indus River System for
water distribution as per the Water Apportionment Accord of 1991. In this
context, one option for consideration would be to let a neutral third party to
operate this system from 5-10 years with local staff from the Indus River
System Authority.
As each
province has agreed to its share of river flows, wouldn’t it be fair for all to
let each province be made responsible to build their own storage facilities to
conserve its due share away from main functional rivers; be these facilities
located either at Wahga or Chechoki Malian as proposed by Haji Adeel
of Awami National Party proposed in a recent TV-talk show. Essentially, Haji
Adeel was giving his party’s consent to an option for provinces to store their
respective share of water by building their own off-channel reservoirs, large
or small, at different levels of provincial irrigation system.
Why not?
This alternative seems fair as the allocated water under the Water Apportioned
Accord of 1991 is delivered to a province; it becomes a sole responsibility of
that province to manage this resource secured. So, allowing provinces to
conserve their agreed share, under the prevailing environment, seems to be the only
option left for flood control and water conservation in an increasingly
slippery consensus building among four provinces. As a matter of fact, had we developed flood
preventive infrastructure by 2010, we would have saved most of the 55.8 MAF
water that passed through Kotri and additional 33-35 MAF stagnant water
that went waste.
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