Assignments

Irrigation Engineering

Indus Waters Treaty

The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-sharing treaty between the Republic of India and Islamic
Republic of Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank (then the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development). The treaty was signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960 by
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President of Pakistan Mohammad Ayub Khan. The
treaty was a result of Pakistani fear that since the source rivers of the Indus basin were in India, it
could potentially create droughts and famines in Pakistan, especially at times of war. However,
India did not revoke the treaty during any of three later Indo-Pakistani Wars.

Provisions
The Indus System of Rivers comprises three Western Rivers the Indus, the Jhelum and Chenab
and three Eastern Rivers - the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi; and with minor exceptions, the
treaty gives India exclusive use of all of the waters of the Eastern Rivers and their tributaries
before the point where the rivers enter Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistan has exclusive use of the
Western Rivers. Pakistan also received one-time financial compensation for the loss of water
from the Eastern Rivers. The countries agree to exchange data and co-operate in matters related
to the treaty. For this purpose, treaty creates the Permanent Indus Commission, with a
commissioner appointed by each country.

History and Background

The waters of the Indus basin begin in the Himalayan mountains in the state of Jammu and
Kashmir. They flow from the hills through the arid states of Punjab and Sindh, converging in
Pakistan and emptying into the Arabian Sea south of Karachi. Where once there was only a
narrow strip of irrigated land along these rivers, developments over the last century have created
a large network of canals and storage facilities that provide water for more than 26 million acres
(110,000 km2) - the largest irrigated area of any one river system in the world.
The partition of British India created a conflict over the plentiful waters of the Indus basin. The
newly formed states were at odds over how to share and manage what was essentially a cohesive
and unitary network of irrigation. Furthermore, the geography of partition was such that the
source rivers of the Indus basin were in India. Pakistan felt its livelihood threatened by the
prospect of Indian control over the tributaries that fed water into the Pakistani portion of the
basin. Where India certainly had its own ambitions for the profitable development of the basin,
Pakistan felt acutely threatened by a conflict over the main source of water for its cultivable land.
During the first years of partition the waters of the Indus were apportioned by the InterDominion Accord of May 4, 1948. This accord required India to release sufficient waters to the
Pakistani regions of the basin in return for annual payments from the government of Pakistan.
The accord was meant to meet immediate requirements and was followed by negotiations for a
more permanent solution. Neither side, however, was willing to compromise their respective
positions and negotiations reached a stalemate. From the Indian point of view, there was nothing
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that Pakistan could do to prevent India from any of the schemes to divert the flow of water in the
rivers. Pakistans position was dismal and India could do whatever it wanted.[2] Pakistan wanted
to take the matter to the International Court of Justice but India refused, arguing that the conflict
required a bilateral resolution.
By 1951, the two sides were no longer meeting and the situation seemed intractable. The
Pakistani press was calling for more drastic action and the deadlock contributed to hostility with
India. As one anonymous Indian official said at the time, "India and Pakistan can go on shouting
on Kashmir for all time to come, but an early settlement on the Indus waters is essential for
maintenance of peace in the sub-continent" (Gulati 16). Despite the unwillingness to
compromise, both nations were anxious to find a solution, fully aware that the Indus conflict
could lead to overt hostilities if unresolved

Water Apportionment Accord (1991)

The purpose of the water accord
Surface water developments after the final commissioning of the Tarbela Dam Project in 1977,
were almost stalled due to the non-resolution of the inter-provincial water dispute. The country
underwent a one and a half decade long crisis related to irrigation supplies and hydropower
generation before reaching consensus. Load-shedding and irregular agriculture produce was
observed during this period. An inter-provincial agreement became essential to solve the
longstanding dispute of canal water uses, shares in the river supplies and surplus flows in the
form of floods, etc.
An agreement called the "Apportionment of the Water of the Indus River System between
Provinces" was arrived upon, which had two important features:
i. It protected the existing uses of canal water in each province.
ii. It apportions the balance of river supplies, including flood surpluses and future storages
among the provinces.

The water apportionment accord - 1991

The Water Apportionment Accord was agreed upon on March 16, 1991 at Karachi in a meeting
of the Chief Minister's of the four provinces along with several provincial representatives. The
accord allocates the following share to provinces:
Province

Kharif (MAF)

Rabi (MAF)

Total (MAF)

Punjab

37.07

18.87

55.94

Sindh *

33.94

14.82

48.76
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Assignments

NWFP (a)
(b) Civil Canals **

3.48

2.3

5.78

1.80

1.2

3.00

Balochistan

2.85

1.02

3.87

Total

77.34

37.01

114.35

**

1.8

1.2

* Including already sanctioned Urban and Industrial uses for Metropolitan Karachi.
** Ungauged Civil Canals above the rim stations
The NWFP/ Balochistan projects, under execution, were provided their authorized quota of water
as existing uses.
Balance river supplies (including flood supplies and future storages) was to be distributed as
below:
Punjab
37

Sindh

Balochistan

NWFP

Total

37

12

14

100 %

Industrial and Urban Water supplies for Metropolitan City, for which there were sanctioned
allocations, was to be accorded priority.
The need for storages, wherever feasible on the Indus and other rivers was admitted and
recognized by the participants for planned future agricultural development.
The need for certain minimum escapage to sea, below Kotri, to check sea intrusion was
recognized. Sindh held the view, that the optimum level was 10 MAF, which was discussed at
length, while other studies indicated lower/high figures. It was, therefore, decided that further
studies would be undertaken to establish the minimal escapage needs downstream Kotri.
There would be no restrictions on the provinces to undertake new projects within their agreed
shares.
No restrictions were placed on small schemes not exceeding 5,000 acres above elevation of 1200
ft. SPD.
No restrictions were placed on developing irrigation uses in the Kurram / Gomal / Kohat basins,
so long as these do not adversely affect the existing uses on these rivers.

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There were no restrictions on Balochistan, to develop the water resources of the Indus right bank
tributaries, flowing through its areas.
The requirements of LBOD would be met out of the flood supplies in accordance with the agreed
sharing formula.
For the implementation of this accord, the need to establish an Indus River System Authority was
recognized and accepted. It was to have headquarters at Lahore and representation from all the
four province.
(i) The system-wise allocation would be worked out separately, on ten daily basis and attached
with the agreement as part and parcel of it.
(ii) The record of actual average system uses for the period 1977-82, would form the guide line
for developing a future regulation pattern. These ten daily uses would be adjusted pro-rata to
correspond to the indicated seasonal allocations of the different canal systems and would form
the basis for sharing shortages and surpluses on all Pakistan basis.
(iii) The existing reservoirs would be operated with priority for the irrigation uses of the
Provinces
(iv) The provinces would have the freedom within their allocations to modify system-wise and
period-wise uses.
(v) All efforts would be made to avoid wastages. Any surpluses may be used by another
province, but this would not establish any rights to such uses.

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Irrigation Zones
Punjab province is a flat, alluvial plain with five major rivers. The name Punjab has been
derived from the words "Punj" meaning "Five" and "Aab" meaning "Water". The province of
Punjab comprises of 34 administrative districts with total area of 205,346 sq.km. The province is
divided into three agro-ecological zones depending on agro-climatic conditions, namely
1) Southern Irrigated Zone, 2) Northern Irrigated Zone

3) Arid (Rain fed) Zone.

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Ground water resources of Pakistan

Historic Development
Before the introduction of widespread irrigation, the groundwater table in the Indus Basin varied
from about 40 feet in depth in Sindh and Bahawalpur areas to about 100 feet in Rechna Doab
(the area between Ravi and Chenab Rivers). After the introduction of weir-controlled irrigation,
the groundwater table started rising due to poor irrigation management, lack of drainage facilities
and the resulting additional recharge from the canals, distributaries, minors, water courses and
irrigation fields. At some locations, the water table rose to the ground surface or very close to the
surface causing waterlogging and soil salinity, reducing productivity. In the late 1950s, the
Government embarked upon a programme of Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects
(SCARPS) wherein large deep tube wells were installed to control the groundwater table. Over a
period of about 30 years, some 13,500 tubewells were installed by the Government to lower the
groundwater table. Of these, about 9,800 tube wells were in the Punjab. The projects initially
proved to be quite effective in lowering the water tablebut with time, the performance of the
SCARP tubewells deteriorated. The development of deep public tube wells under the SCARPS
was soon followed by private investment in shallow tube wells. Particularly in the eighties, the
development of private tube wells received a boost, when locally manufactured inexpensive
diesel engines became available. Most of these shallow tube wells were individually owned.
Now more than 500,000 tubewells supply about 41.6 MAF of supplemental irrigation water
every year, mostly in periods of low surface water availability. These tubewells compensated the
loss of pumping capacity of the SCARPtubewells and helped in lowering the water table.

Status of Ground Water in Pakistan

The Indus Basin was formed by alluvial deposits carried by the Indus and its tributaries. It is
underlain by an unconfined aquifer covering about 15 million acres in surface area. In the
Punjab, about 79% of the area and in Sindh, about 28% of the area is underlain by fresh
groundwater. This is mostly used as supplemental irrigation water and pumped through
tubewells. Some groundwater is saline. Water from the saline tube wells is generally put into
drains and, where this is not possible, it is discharged into large canals for use in irrigation, after
diluting with the fresh canal water. In the last 25- 30 years, ground water has become a major
supplement to canal supplies, especially in the Upper Indus Plain, where ground water quality is
good. Large scale tube well pumpage for irrigation started in the early sixties. There are
presently more than 500,000 tube wells in the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) and the
annual pump age in all canal command areas has been estimated to be over 50 BCM. According
to a study, the total groundwater potential in Pakistan is of the order of 55 MAF. Major part of
the groundwater abstraction for irrigation is within the canal commands or in the flood plains of
the rivers. However, the amount of abstraction varies throughout the area, reflecting
inadequacy/unreliability of surface water supplies and groundwater quality distribution. The
quality of groundwater ranges from fresh (salinity less than 1000 mg/l TDS) near the major
rivers to highly saline farther away, with salinity more than 3000 mg/l TDS. The general
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distribution of fresh and saline groundwater in the country is well known and mapped, as it
influences the options for irrigation and drinking water supplies.

Punjab
About 79% of the Punjab province has access to fresh groundwater. Some 9.78 million acres are
underlain with groundwater of less than 1000 mg/l TDS, 3 million acres with salinity ranging
from 1000 to 3000 mg/l TDS and 3.26 million acres with salinity more than 3000 mg/l TDS.
Saline waters are mostly encountered in the central Doab areas. The Cholistan area in southern
Punjab is well known for highly brackish waters, which can not be used for drinking purposes.
Groundwater with high fluoride content is found in the Salt Range, Kasur and Mianwali. There
are also reports of high fluoride content, ranging from 65 to 12 mg/l in groundwater in the
Bahawalpur area. Samplings of groundwater in Jhelum, Gujrat and Sargodha districts have
shown concentrations of arsenic well above the WHO guideline value of 50 g/l.
Sindh
Around 28% of the Sindh province has access to fresh groundwater suitable for irrigation i.e. the
water has less than 1000 mg/l TDS. Close to the edges of the irrigated lands, fresh groundwater
can be found at 20 - 25 m depth. Large areas in the province are underlain with groundwater of
poor quality. Indiscriminate pumping has resulted in contamination of the aquifer at many places
where the salinity of tubewell water has increased. The areas with non-potable, highly brackish
water include Thar, Nara and Kohistan. In Tharparkar and Umarkot, the situation is further
complicated by the occurrence of high fluoride in the groundwater.
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KP
In NWFP, abstraction in excess of recharge in certain areas such as Karak, Kohat, Bannu and
D.I. Khan has lowered the water table and resulted in the contamination from underlying saline
water.
Balochistan
The Makran coastal zone and several other basins contain highly brackish groundwater. Local
communities use groundwater with TDS as high as 3000 mg/l, for drinking purposes, as there are
no alternatives. In Mastung Valley, the groundwater has been found to have high fluoride
content. The Makrancoast and Kharan have also been reported to have high fluoride
groundwater.
1. Subsurface Drainage
1. At appraisal, a horizontal drainage network for 26,500 ha was planned, including the
installation of 3,200 km of corrugated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) laterals, 320 km of PVC
collectors, 160 sumps, and 160 pumping plants. The Project installed 1,600 km of lateral drains,
324 km of collector drains, 56 sumps, and 118 pumps for 23,644 ha. To electrify sump pumps,
transmission lines of 175 km and 56 transformers with 50 kilovoltamperes were installed as
compared with the 170 km of transmission line and 160 transformers with 15 kilovolt-amperes at
appraisal. The changes in the physical facilities resulted from the detailed design of the facilities
carried out after the Project was appraised. Despite the substantial reduction in the subsurface
drainage network, drainage standards as envisaged during appraisal were realized.
2.The Project included both international and domestic training for staff of the Water and Power
Development Authority (WAPDA) and Irrigation and the Power Department, Punjab (IPD) in
the design, installation, and maintenance of the subsurface drainage system. Compared with the
appraisal estimate providing international training to 22 people, only 16 received training. 2 The
consultants provided two domestic training courses on construction supervision to project staff
for 272 person-days.
2. Surface Drainage
1. At appraisal, it was planned to construct 80 km of new surface drains and to extend existing
drains by 3 km. Rehabilitation and remodeling of 92 km of existing drains were planned,
together with the construction of 255 structures such as culverts, bridges, aqueducts, watercourse
crossings, and drainage inlets.
2.. Compared with the appraisal provision, 122 km of new drains were constructed and 9 km of
existing drains were extended. A total of 96 km of existing drains were rehabilitated or
remodeled; 375 structures were constructed, and 181 km of maintenance roads were improved.
During the detailed design, the total length of the surface drains was increased as the areas for
the subsurface drains was decreased due to the topography of the project area.

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