When the Indus Water Treaty was signed in Sep 1960, also signed were the Indus Basin Development Fund Agreement by representatives of Pakistan, the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the World Bank, and a loan agreement between Pakistan and the World Bank. Enormous sums of money were spent and expensive irrigation works construction was undertaken.
These irrigation works were part of the ‘Indus Basin Replacement Works’ under which Tarbela dam, Chashma & Taunsa barrage and CJ & TP link canals were also built. Does it make any sense that having spent such enormous sums of money to compensate for the loss of the eastern rivers we should now say that the water stored in Tarbela dam is not to be considered ‘replacement water’, that there is no need for a left bank canal at Kalabagh dam for north Punjab, and CJ and TP link canals are not meant for irrigating 45 lakh acres in south Punjab. In other words, World Bank took away Ravi and Sutlej without making any arrangement for replacement water. This is the level of ignorance which prevails about the Indus Water Treaty. This is exactly the level of ignorance which makes Kalabagh dam redundant.
ENGR KHURSHID ANWER,
Lahore, October 15.