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| Gilgit's Diamer-Bhasha dam may tilt 'water war' in Pakistan's favour | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Mar 30: Pakistan is building Asia's largest multi-purpose dam on river Indus in Gilgit, a move that is likely to heavily tilt the battle to exploit water resources of Jammu & Kashmir in the neighbouring country's favour.
On October 18, 2011, then Prime Minister of Pakistan Yusuf Raza Gilani laid the foundation stone of Diamer-Bhasha dam, which will generate 4500 MWs of power and store 7.5 million acre feet of water, enough to end Pakistan's crippling power and irrigation woes. Indus flows from Ladakh province in J&K into Pakistan.
Reports say the dam-situated near a place called Bhasha in Gilgit-Baltistan's Diamer district, hence the name-will have a 200 sq kms reservoir and submerge 100 kms of pivotal Karakoram highway, connecting Pakistan with China, which has to be relocated. Billed the biggest ever public sector project in Pakistan, it would be world's highest roller compacted concrete dam and take 10 years to complete at a cost of 12 billion dollars.
In August 2012, the project faced several setbacks as World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) both refused to finance the project as according to them its location is in disputed territory and asked Pakistan to get a NOC from India.
Later, on 20 August 2013, Finance Minister of Pakistan, Ishaq Dar claimed to have convinced the WB to finance the Diamer-Bhasha Project without the requirement of NOC from India. He also said that the ADB had agreed to become lead finance manager for the project.
When the project was first proposed in 2006 New Delhi objected to it, arguing that "Pakistan occupied Kashmir is part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession to it in 1947," a position reiterated by an Indian parliamentary resolution of 1994.
The Indus system of rivers comprises three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej and their tributaries) and three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab and their tributaries). These rivers are divided between the two countries in accordance with the provisions of Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan signed the World Bank-brokered IWT in Karachi in September 1960. Under the Treaty, Pakistan obtained exclusive rights over Indus, Jhelum and Chenab that flow from J&K into Pakistan. And India retained rights over Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
But India and Pakistan are locked in a competition of sorts to come up with more and more projects on the rivers of J&K. Such projects cause a great unease in J&K, where people barely get a 10-hour power supply.
J&K's power crisis is ironic, given that the state, according to a host of studies, has the potential to generate about 20,000 MWs of electricity. Currently, J&K generates 2440 MWs of electricity, while another 2000 MWs worth projects are under construction.
Diamer-Bhasha dam, it is believed, will go a long way in alleviating Pakistan's power woes or prevent devastating floods across. Pakistan produces 6500 MWs of hydro-electricity, 3500 MWs of which comes from Tarbela in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa and 1000 MWs from Mangla, again in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on the Jhelum.
Pakistan's agriculture almost entirely depends on the water that flows from J&K. A World Bank report states that agriculture accounts for 24% of Pakistan's GDP and 80% of its exports come from agriculture. A quarter of the Pakistani population has no access to electricity and power deficit is predicted to grow to 5,500 MWs.
While media in India and Pakistan has highlighted the disagreements over dams in J&K as the major worry, scant attention is paid to the changes in the Indus water basin because of climate change. This is despite the fact that J&K is home to 60 out of 327 major glaciers in Himalayas that contribute to 75% of the water in the basin. "And signs of melting of the glaciers at a faster rate are very visible," said the expert who wished not to be named.
"India and Pakistan quarrel over construction of dams in Kashmir but ignore the biggest threat: climate change that is drastically eating away Kashmir's glaciers. Isn't it time for the two countries to water down their hydro-politics and work towards salvaging the glaciers of Kashmir?" she asked. |
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