Pakistan sues India against building dam in Kashmir
Thursday, 22 July 2010
From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, July 21: Water is a great source of irritation between India and Bangladesh. Similar problem existed between India and Pakistan but the World Bank intervened to settle the issue. That was in early 50s.
The situation is becoming more glimmer as water hurtling from mountain glaciers in the Himalayas to the parched regions in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is steadily declining to an alarming level. There is a race between China, India and Pakistan to seize control of the Himalayas, the major source of water in the region. There is apparently no concern in Bangladesh.
India is racing to build a hydroelectric dam in Bandipore, Kashmir, one of the several it plans to build over the next decade to feed its rapidly growing but power and water starved economy. The project has raised fears in Pakistan that its arch rival and an upper riverine nation could manipulate the water flowing to its agriculture industry, a quarter of its economy and employer of half of its population. Pakistan has filed a case with the International Arbitration Court to stop it, the New York Times in a front page story revealed today.
The United States is helping Pakistan to build hydroelectricity projects. With population rapidly growing water has become critical for all the nations in the region. Pakistan has the largest contiguous irrigation system. The rivers that flow through Punjab is the heart of Pakistan's agriculture industry. For India hydroprojects are vital to harnessing Himalayas water to fill the serious energy crisis that crimp its economy.
More than 40 per cent of Indian population have no electricity connection.
India has rejected the argument that it is trying to "steal" water. Pakistan contends the dam will allow India to manipulate the water flow. It makes Pakistan vulnerable. India's foreign secretary Ms Nirupama Rao called Pakistan's allegation "breast beating propoganda" adding the myth of water theft does not stand the test of rational scrutiny or reason. Water experts say Pakistan has a legitimate cause of concern. Dam in Bandipore, Kashmir is a matter of our national prestige, NYT quoted an Indian official as saying. It is our right to build this dam and our future depends on it, the official said.
Pakistan is about to slip into a category of country that the United Nations indentifies as water scare. Bangladesh's situation is far more worse than that of Pakistan but it has failed to garner international sympathy largely because of the failure of its foreign service officials to highlight the problem in international forums.
NEW YORK, July 21: Water is a great source of irritation between India and Bangladesh. Similar problem existed between India and Pakistan but the World Bank intervened to settle the issue. That was in early 50s.
The situation is becoming more glimmer as water hurtling from mountain glaciers in the Himalayas to the parched regions in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is steadily declining to an alarming level. There is a race between China, India and Pakistan to seize control of the Himalayas, the major source of water in the region. There is apparently no concern in Bangladesh.
India is racing to build a hydroelectric dam in Bandipore, Kashmir, one of the several it plans to build over the next decade to feed its rapidly growing but power and water starved economy. The project has raised fears in Pakistan that its arch rival and an upper riverine nation could manipulate the water flowing to its agriculture industry, a quarter of its economy and employer of half of its population. Pakistan has filed a case with the International Arbitration Court to stop it, the New York Times in a front page story revealed today.
The United States is helping Pakistan to build hydroelectricity projects. With population rapidly growing water has become critical for all the nations in the region. Pakistan has the largest contiguous irrigation system. The rivers that flow through Punjab is the heart of Pakistan's agriculture industry. For India hydroprojects are vital to harnessing Himalayas water to fill the serious energy crisis that crimp its economy.
More than 40 per cent of Indian population have no electricity connection.
India has rejected the argument that it is trying to "steal" water. Pakistan contends the dam will allow India to manipulate the water flow. It makes Pakistan vulnerable. India's foreign secretary Ms Nirupama Rao called Pakistan's allegation "breast beating propoganda" adding the myth of water theft does not stand the test of rational scrutiny or reason. Water experts say Pakistan has a legitimate cause of concern. Dam in Bandipore, Kashmir is a matter of our national prestige, NYT quoted an Indian official as saying. It is our right to build this dam and our future depends on it, the official said.
Pakistan is about to slip into a category of country that the United Nations indentifies as water scare. Bangladesh's situation is far more worse than that of Pakistan but it has failed to garner international sympathy largely because of the failure of its foreign service officials to highlight the problem in international forums.