Maintaining eco balance in Upper Indus Basin India’s responsibility: expert

ISLAMABAD: “Responsibility for maintaining a sustainable ecological and environmental balance in Upper Indus Basin, including watershed areas of Indus, Chenab and Jhelum rivers, lies with the Indian government.”

This was stated by an eminent water and energy expert Engineer Arshad H Abbasi on Tuesday while talking to The News. Arshad Abbasi said he had sent a letter to the Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue.

India issued a second notice to Pakistan on August 30 this year, indicating no further meetings of Indus Commission will take place until the Indus Water Treaty is renegotiated. In his letter, Abbasi pointed out India’s contradictions, which ranks third in greenhouse gas emissions, sending a notice to renegotiate the Treaty under the pretext of climate change. The primary greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), among others.

He said despite issuing the notice, India is proceeding with the construction of two dams: 550-foot-high, 1,000-megawatt Pakal Dul Dam and 490-foot-high, 624-megawatt Kiru Dam on Chenab River in Kishtwar district of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Both the projects are near completion.

Indus Water Commissioner of Pakistan has raised objections to 436-foot-high, 850-megawatt Ratle Dam on the same river, but remains silent regarding two major dams.

Abbasi said he criticised the Ministry of Climate Change for its inaction in a letter to prime minister, pointing out its failure to address the pressing issue of climate change in Pakistan. He disclosed the Ministry had not requested the Indian government to provide environmental assessment reports for the dam projects, which he views as an oversight or possible complicity.

Arshad Abbasi said the Chenab Basin may hold a world record for highest number of hydropower projects among all the basins. Currently, there are over 60 hydropower projects. These projects are at various stages of planning, construction and commissioning in Indian states of Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

He said, “The Himalayan ecosystem, which includes Chenab River basin, is recognised for its geological fragility.” The proposed series of hydro projects in this area could increase the region’s susceptibility to extreme and unpredictable weather events, which are expected to rise due to climate change, he observed.

This vulnerability was notably highlighted during the Uttarakhand disaster in June 2013, he reminded. A report submitted to the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) by an expert body led by Dr Ravi Chopra, he said, has acknowledged this relationship. “Therefore, conducting a comprehensive impact assessment of all proposed hydropower projects in this area is essential,” he said.

He said various Indian organisations have stressed the necessity of Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) for all proposed, under-construction and operational projects, as well as Carrying Capacity Assessment (CCA) of the river basin.

“Without such assessments, advancing any hydropower project in the basin poses a significant risk of disaster on the climate change front,” he said. Furthermore, India has a global responsibility to ensure health of Chenab Basin’s watershed. Extensive clearing of conifer forests for dam development will exacerbate climate change in the region, he feared.

Abbasi claimed India has accelerated $15 billion hydropower projects in Kashmir in recent years. The government’s silence demonstrates 250 million people can protect nation’s water security on their own in the face of total institutional failure, he remarked.