The Water Apportionment Accord is an agreement on the sharing of waters of the Indus Basin between the provinces of Pakistan. It is based largely upon the historical use of water by the provinces; Punjab 47%, Sindh 42% Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 8% and Baluchistan 3%. The first meeting of the inter-provincial committee, constituted by the CCI, to resolve the contentious issue of water distribution among the provinces under Water Accord 1991, remained inconclusive and now it will meet again during the first week of December, it is learnt reliably.

During the PML (N) government the Council of Common Interests (CCI) constituted an inter-provincial committee headed by Attorney General of Pakistan and comprising the provincial representatives. The committee was tasked to look into the current issues of availability of water and its distribution in the country and present its recommendations for consideration to the CCI.

This unduly punishes provinces such as Balochistan or KP which can only extract limited water due to topography. They cannot extract the value from the resource because the Accord prohibits water trading.  Water trading would involve Punjab paying KP for water that KP was unable or did not wish to use. Without opportunities for water trading, Baluchistan and KP will be incentivised to exploit all the water they can from the Indus Basin as for them this remains the only way in which to extract value.

Sindh has shown concerns on the existing distribution of water resources of Indus waters and termed it a gross violation of the Water Apportionment Accord 1991. According the Sindh’s stance since the approval of Water Accord in 1991 by the CCI, the province had not been getting its share of water. Sindh is of the view that without referring the matter to CCI, IRSA has granted exemption from water shortage to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According the Sindh the existing 3-tier formula adopted by IRSA for distribution of Indus Waters is not part of Water Accord.

A former Chief Minister of Balochistan, Dr Malik Baloch, and Quddus Bizenjo had raised some disputes with the Central Government and sought a CCI meeting to sort it out. The meeting had never been convened and all the issues are pending. To this date, years old issues are on the CCI agenda and they are yet to be discussed. There are reports of ‘discrepancies’ in water discharges and their measurement at key inter-provincial distribution sites. Sindh has complained about incorrect measurements between the Chashma and Taunsa barrages and Taunsa and Guddu barrages. Balochistan has charged that Sindh is not allowing it to have its full share of water in accordance with the agreement.

Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab have similar complaints against KP and have protested over huge water losses between Besham and Tarbela and inaccurate measurements at the Chashma barrage. The disputes involving all the four provinces can lead to a serious discord if not resolved at the earliest. What makes the issue serious is that those involved in disputes are now flouting the authority of IRSA. When bureaucracy fails to carry out its responsibilities it is for the political leadership to take up the gauntlet. Pakistan being an agricultural country, scarcity of water affects the lives of millions of people. The complaints being made should therefore be taken seriously as these could strengthen parochial tendencies. Divisive tendencies are generally considered to be a legacy of dictatorial regimes.

Democracies it is maintained possess mechanisms required for resolving differences between the federal units. The PML-N government has promised to build a number of big water reservoirs to deal with the issue of water shortage. The projects would however take years to complete. Meanwhile disputes with far reaching consequences need to be urgently settled. It can alternately take the issue to next CCI meeting. It’s is for the federal government now to take up the matter with the provincial governments with Chief Minister of Province.