Indo-Pak Commissioners Juggle with Controversial Water Dams

Zeeshan Javed

Brushing aside Pakistan’s serious objections to building a 1000 MW with 88000 Acre Feet (AF) water storage capacity in Pakal Dal Reservoir on Chenab River, India has assured a visiting Pakistani delegation to review and revise some structural design of spillways.

The visitors headed by the commissioner of the Pakistan Commission on Indus Waters (PCIW) were also given the assurance that after the flood season of the monsoon, the Pakistani authorities would be given a tour of the controversial projects.

However, Indian officials said that their engineers would soon submit their proposals to the Indus Water Commission of India to change the design of the project, after which India would reach an understanding with Pakistan on the issue.

Will these assurances are enough for Pakistan remains a question because ever since the start of the Pakal Dal project, Pakistani authorities have been calling it a flagrant violation of the US-brokered and World Bank moderated 1960 Indus Basin Water Treaty.

Sources privy to these developments disclosed to this scribe that for now, Pakistan would take the words of the newly appointed commissioner of the Indian Commission on Indus Waters (ICIW), Ashish Pal, as an ice-breaking opportunity.

Ashish, upon assuming his new office in India had flatly refused to even discuss this controversial project with the visiting Pakistani delegation.

India Continues to squeeze Water Tap on a politically Chaotic Pakistan

In his letter, a copy of which was retrieved by this scribe, Mr Ashish had cited the shortage of time as the reason for not putting this and other controversial issues on the agenda of the proposed two-day visiting the Pakistani delegation to New Delhi.

Three-member Pakistani delegation arrived in New Delhi on 29th May with the commissioner of the Pakistani Indus Water Commission, Syed Mehr Ali Shah.

The delegation is learned to have brief but meaningful discussions with the Indian counterparts in the past two days, disclosed sources.

“Persistency and consistency matter and we are hopeful that by having open-hearted discussions both sides will be able to list down and iron out many of the controversial issues surrounding water resources”, claimed sources engaged in the talks.

“These are great gestures shown by Indians but then Pakistan would have to wait for the revised design of the spillways of Pakal Dal and reserves the right to take the matter for arbitration if words were not met with ruins,” said a senior Pakistani official familiar with the treacherous history of water-talks between the two atomic neighbours.

However, the real masters in Pakistan are considering it a great achievement of Pakistan on the waterfront.

After a long time of 5 years, the Indian authorities have also green signalled visits by the Pakistani officials to other controversial under construction projects on the Pakistani rivers.

The first round of the 118th two-day meeting on water disputes between Pakistan and India was held in New Delhi yesterday.

According to the sources, the meeting started with the introduction of the new Indian Commissioner Ashish Pal to the Pakistani delegation while the first round of the meeting also reviewed the annual report of the commission of both the countries.

Sources said that Pakistani authorities raised their objection to India over the design of controversial projects like Pak Dal and Khar hydropower projects.

In addition, Pakistani officials informed India that the additional storage of 11,000 acre-feet of water on the controversial Pak-Dal project with a capacity of 1000 MW is a violation of the Indus Water Treaty, which is not acceptable to Pakistan.

Before the Pakistani delegation left for India, an important meeting was held at the Ministry of Water Resources which was chaired by Syed Muhammad Mehr Ali Shah, Head of the Pakistan Commission of Indus Water.

The Director-General, the Federal Flood Commission and representatives of the military intelligence (MI), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Operation (MO) Directorate as key stakeholders had also attended the meeting.

In view of the 118th two-day meeting of the Indus Water Commissioners of the two countries to be held in New Delhi, it was already decided that despite Indian refusal to take up the agenda items including Talks on Pakal Dal and future visits of controversial projects constructed by India on western rivers, Pakistan will raise all objections while playing a smart move.

It was made clear in the correspondence by New Dehli that India did not want to talk about the Pakal Dal project under construction on the Chenab river and other projects under construction on the western rivers due to lack of time.

The second round of the 118th meeting of the Indus Water Commission of the two countries will be held today, at the end of which a letter regarding the meeting is likely to be issued by the Indian government.

A five-member Pakistani delegation will return home on Tuesday.