ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: Differences between Sindh and Punjab over water-sharing could lead to an inter-provincial conflict and even harm the federation if “heart-to-heart” talks were not held to resolve the issue, environmental experts attending an international conference on development warned here on Monday.

The differences, they said, were widening with time because the stand of Sindh was based on environmental concerns while Punjab wanted to use every drop of available water to ensure food security for its people.

According to them, at least four million people in Sindh were being directly hit by environmental degradation caused by lack of water, mainly due to policies formulated at the behest of Punjab.

In a heated political-cum-technical debate, a number of experts backed the viewpoint of Sindh and said food security at the cost of environment was not acceptable. The issue, they said, could not be resolved by accepting Punjab’s demand for building mega water reservoirs, including the Kalabagh dam.

Some experts were of the view that Sindh could get international support because its case was based on genuine concerns for environment. The issue would pose a major challenge to the new political set-up because as a federating unit Sindh felt sidelined and exploited, they said.

The Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute has organised the three-day ‘Sustainable development conference’ to discuss and present sustainable solutions to problems of poverty, illiteracy, mortality and morbidity, environmental degradation and disaster management, gender inequality, insecurity and peace.

Experts from the United States, India, United Kingdom, Nepal, Bangladesh, Singapore and Germany, who are attending the conference, will present research papers on emerging issues.

In a paper on “Environmental law in Pakistan: international obligations and lower riparian Sindh”, political analyst and technocrat Akbar Kazi said that of eight committees constituted so far to devise a water-sharing formula between Punjab and Sindh, only two (the Rao Commission of 1941 and the Inter-Provincial Water Accord of 1992) could produce an agreement between the provinces. At present, he said, distrust had reached such a level that the matter required to be handled urgently.

Mr Kazi accused proponents of building big dams of hoodwinking the people by saying that Pakistan had 35 million acre feet of surplus water each year which needed to be stored.

“This is not true,” he said, adding that there was no surplus water in the three main rivers —Indus, Jehlum and Chenab —nine months a year.

“Don’t make reservoirs. Just conserve water,” he maintained.

Some other experts backed Mr Kazi when he said the 1971 Fazl-i-Akbar committee, which had held meetings with the World Bank that had mediated the water issue between India and Pakistan, comprised junior engineers from Punjab.