LAHORE, Oct 15: The 1991 accord has outlived its utility as far as water distribution is concerned, said Jehangir Khan Tareen, head of the parliamentary committee on new reservoirs.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Tareen maintained that the Water Accord offered a single solution —- based on the post-Tarbela (1977-82) provincial usage —- to a manifold problem. Water supplies fluctuated widely in Pakistan, and so should the solutions. The country should have solutions for at least three different scenarios —- low, medium and high supplies. The single-solution approach has created more problems than it has solved, he said.

Talking about the Kalabagh dam, Mr Tareen said that it had to be a carry-over if the country wanted to forge a consensus over it. There is hardly any way to get others agree to any other design of the dam. He pointed out that taking canals out of the dam would be politically, financially and technically undesirable.

Quoting a World Bank study dating back to 1984, he said any canal on the left bank, as demanded by the Punjab, would have to be tunnelled through the tectonically unstable Salt Range and water lifted again through pumps to deliver it to the Punjab. This is not advisable both technically and financially, he claimed.

Sindh may agree to the amended design —- a carry-over dam without canals —- but the Punjab and the NWFP are resisting it for fears of their own, he said. But all provinces need to understand that a consensus over a new dam has to be a give-and-take bargain rather than a zero sum game. The NWFP has genuine fears as to how it would receive water if no canal is allowed at the dam site. But with Greater Thal and Chashma Right Bank canals, the Punjab is able to consume its share as per the Water Accord. So, it should not worry about an additional canal from the Kalabagh dam site.

Talking about the development of Mangla Command, which has been surviving on replacement supplies for the last 35 years, he said a raised Mangla Dam would supply it additional water for development purposes. Once a carry-over is built, the Punjab will not have to supply water to Sindh in early Kharif and will thus be able to store extra water in the dam.

The Punjab and the NWFP have both been opposing a Kalabagh dam without canals. The Punjab wants to link the Mangla Command area with the Indus through a Kalabagh-Rasool link canal from the left bank of the dam to the Jhelum river while the NWFP wants to irrigate land in Dera Ismail Khan with a canal from the right bank. The Punjab argues that a canal may be built on the left side when there is an acute need of water in the northern part of the province.

About distribution of water, Mr Tareen was of the opinion that out of six million acre feet to be stored at Kalabagh, three million would be a replacement for the silted-up dams. The rest would stabilize supplies in the country.

Therefore, the dam should not immediately be taken as a development. Once the dam is built and the early Kharif shortage of Sindh taken care of, the next step would be much easier, he maintained.

The water managers have to sit and work out a fresh distribution strategy. A single solution, as stipulated in the Water Accord, does not work for all crises. All new options will have to be properly studied and backed by proven facts. Fortunately, the data available with all water planners is the same and carries a consensus behind it. The only difference is that of interpretation, which can be hammered out without much political and technical schism. The consensus over data leaves room for optimism, he was of the view.

There is no escape from reality, Mr Tareen said, and added: “One has to take the bull by the horns. Deferring problems and suspending solutions have led the nation to the present ditch, and it has to be taken out of it at every cost.”

Sindh, the Punjab, the NWFP and Balochistan must get something out of the Kalabagh dam and lose something to it. Once political, financial and technical pluses and minuses become clear, it would be easier to de-emotionalize the situation and go ahead with the dam.

The Kalabagh dam, or any other reservoir for that matter, must be a part of a national vision on water.

It must include everything from the mountain top to the root and must answer questions like how can top soil erosion be avoided and water conserved in the fields.

He agreed to the fact that the government must evolve an integrated approach to the matter, which it lacked currently. Different ministries, politicians and departments some time look like working at odds and overlapping their efforts. This could send wrong signals and hamper consensus-building, he maintained.