Water Crisis Threatening India-Pakistan Relations?
Few seem to know that the driest
continent in the world is not Africa but Asia, where availability of freshwater
is not even half the global average. Asia has less than one-tenth of the water
of South America, Australia and New Zealand, less than one-fourth of the water
of North America, almost one-third of the water of Europe, and 25% less water
than Africa per inhabitant. Asia has the world’s fastest-growing demand for
water and the biggest abuse. The abuse and displacement of water is the ground -level
equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions, and likely as great a cause of climate
change.[1]Water
availability on per capita cubic meter basic is estimated to decline from 1730
to 1240 for India[2]
by 2035. Alarmingly, by 2020 Pakistan’s
water capacity will reduce to 800 cubic meters per capita. Pakistan is also
estimated to be losing 13 million cusecs of water every year from its rivers
into the sea, as it does not have enough reservoirs or dams to store water. The
Ganges in India is expected to lose between 15 to 30 percent of water due to
glacier depletion by mid of 21 century[3].
Water has emerged as a critical
issue that will determine if Asia is headed toward greater cooperation or
competition.The water issues are increasingly gaining resurgence in
relations between countries. As per Pacific Institute, water conflicts today
arise for numerous reasons like religious accounts, development issues,
military tools, political disputes and as tools of terrorism. Even when there
is enough water around us, there is scarcity of fresh water. Asia, with the
lowest per capita freshwater availability among all continents, is at the
center of global water challenges. “Suddenly it is so clear: the world is
running out of fresh water” are the opening words of Barlow’s 2002 book, Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop Corporate Theft
of the World’s Water. [4]The
book warns that a mighty contest over the world’s dwindling fresh water
supplies was brewing.
All
those gloomy images show the criticality of water issues, but is the situation
really so dire? Is the Earth running short of water or is it our management
which is failing?In 2006, the United Nations (UN) reported that many of
world’s water problems come not from the physical absence of freshwater, but
from poor governance and lack of investment in basic activities like sewage treatment
and water efficiency programs. [5] A
more rigorous analysis states that water remains a sought after commodity
in the growing world, yet it remains a manageable problem.
India –Pakistan,
the 1947 Line of partition cuts across the Indus river system, necessitating an
understanding between the countries on the sharing of the waters and the steps
to be taken in response to the disruption of well-established systems. The
dispute over the waters of River Indus, has been resolved through Indus Water
Treaty (IWT) in 1960.IWT is representative of a water dispute settlement mechanism
between the countries and has so far survived
the political upheavals. However, many other domestic and
international water issues, specially the unresolved dispute of Tulbul
Navigation Project connected to Jammu and Kashmir, still stare in the face. The
intergovernmental talks on Tulbul project have not been successful due to
Pakistan’s objections based on domestic compulsions. Nevertheless, with belief
in structural constructivism and in light of a peaceful precedent of resolution
of IWT, the paper queries whether the water crisis is for real or, “Is the
assumed water crisis being used to threaten India - Pakistan relations”?
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