With reference to building of three dams on Indus River by India, Mr. Jamaat Ali Shah, Pakistan's Indus Basin Treaty Commissioner, recently said that as per agreement, India should build hydro-electric dams on Indus only on the 'Run of the river' basis. This means no storage of water or interruption of river flow should take place. But from the press reports emanating from India, one gathers that the height of dams on Indus would vary from 47 to 59 meters. The storage of water up to that level would entail building of storage reservoirs. This would inevitably stop the river flow till the storage level is reached. A similar effect of water storage was noticed on a dam on Chenab River that stopped supply of water to about 200,000 acres of cropland in Pakistan. It appears the term 'run of the river' is used to obfuscate the matter of building storage reservoirs that would result in chronic shortage of water when it is needed most for irrigation in Pakistan. The Indus Basin Treaty Commissioner ought to fully interpret the 'run of the river' term for satisfaction of people so that it does not entail storage of water nor result reduced water supply downstream. -DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI, Lahore, via e-mail, February 14.