Inter-Provincial Water Conflicts in Pakistan: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

42 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 43, No.2, Winter 2020 Inter-Provincial Water Conflicts in Pakistan: A Critical Analysis Adil Khan* Nazakat Awan** Introduction Human history is predominantly a history of wars and conflicts. These wars and conflicts were the outcome of unlimited desires of mankind to conquer and control the natural resources. Water remained one of these natural resources which caused a number of wars. Most of the great civilizations emerged and flourished around the great rivers like Sindh, Euphrates, Nile and Ganges etc. Water, which once was used for irrigation and domestic purpose only, with the passage of time, has become a very important component of industrial growth in the modern world. Production of different commodities requires the consumption of water also. ‘The scale of water consumption for producing different commodities is increasing with rapid industrial expansion. For example in order to produce one litter of petroleum, one container of vegetables, one kilogram of paper and one ton of woollen cloth, it is necessary to consume ten litters, forty litters, hundred litters and six hundred litters of water, respectively’1 .This exponential growth of water usage in addition to water scarcity due to a number of *Adil Khan. is serving as a lecturer in the Department of Pakistan Studies, Hazara University Mansehra He earned his PhD in Politics and International Relations from the International Islamic University, lamabad, Pakistan. His interests are democratization and Pakistani politics. **Nazakat Awan is a lecturer in the department of English, at Hazara University Mansehra. He is pursuing his PhD in linguistics from National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. his recent publication entitled ‘Hybridity and linguistic pluralism: a study of university academic discourse’ is published in Global Social Science Review, Islamabad, Pakistan. 1 Encyclopedia Britannica Macrop/Edia, (Chicago: Helen Hemming Way, 1973-74, Vol.: 19). 43 climatic factors has given birth to a range of new conflicts. These conflicts range from inter-state to intra-state conflicts. he history of water related conflicts in sub-continent predates partition of Indo-Pak. The first water related conflict in Western India, which now constitute Pakistan, emerged in the post-World War I period among Punjab, Sindh, Bhawalpur and Bekaner states over the water sharing mechanism of river Indus.2 The upper and lower riparian regions relied on different arguments to win more water share. The upper riparian, Punjab, demanded more share on the basis of its greater contribution to the overall economy, whereas, the lower riparian, Sindh, demanded this share on the basis of its greater needs. The conflict was ultimately managed by the British Government acting as neutral arbitrator and facilitating negotiations among the conflicting parties.3 Water related conflicts in the post partition period once again emerged not only at interstate level, between India and Pakistan, but also at the domestic intrastate level, among the federating units of Pakistan. The Indus Water Treaty (TWT) in 1960 to some extent resolved interstate conflict between India and Pakistan, but it gave birth to a new controversy in West Pakistan, at intrastate level, as Pakistan lost its right on the waters of three major rivers; Sutlej, Bias and Ravi, resulting in a great imbalance of demand and supply of water. This imbalance and the resulting conflict not only negatively affected the economic growth in Pakistan but it also had serious implications for the federal structure. This article explores the causes of inter-provincial water conflicts, critically analyzes the arguments posed by various federating units, evaluates the performance of various commissions formed over the period since independence to resolve these conflicts, and finally explores the implications of inter-provincial water conflicts for the federation of Pakistan. This paper is organized broadly into four sections. The first section includes discussion on overall demand of water in Pakistan and the volume available to satiate this demand. The second section is a critical analysis of the causes of inter-provincial water conflicts. The third section comprises debates on major water related issues and an evaluation of the performance of various commissions formed to address the water conflicts among federating units. The fourth and concluding section is an attempt to 2 Michal-Aloys Arthur (1967), The Indus...