New Challenges of Transboundary Water Conflicts and
Climate Change for Governance of Indus River Basin
By
Hasrat Arjjumend
Senior Fellow
GRASSROOTS INSTITUTE
Banjar – 175123 District Kullu
Himachal Pradesh (India)
Tel: 01903-200202, 09910188948
Fax: +91-01903-222257
E-mail: info@grassrootsinstitute.in
Web: www.grassrootsinstitute.in
ABSTRACT
Competing water demands, irrigation and urban water supply augmented with flood
management are the key issues addressed in Indus River Basin (IRB). The Indus is a river system
that sustains communities in both countries India and Pakistan. They both have extensively
dammed the Indus River for irrigation of their crops and hydro-electricity systems. The river basin
is divided between Pakistan, which has about 60 per cent of the catchment area, India with about
20 per cent, Afghanistan with 5 per cent and around 15 per cent in Tibet. The river tributaries are
the Jhelum and Chenab rivers, which primarily flow into Pakistan while other branches—
the Ravi, Beas, and the Sutlej—irrigate northern India. The conflict in the basin started in 1947
when India stopped water flowing through its canals to Pakistan, forcing the later to approach
international agencies for help. In arbitrating the conflict in 1947 Sir Cyril Radcliffe, decided to
demarcate the territories as he was unable to give to one or the other the control over the river as it
was a main economic resource forth both areas. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed by both
countries in September 1960, giving exclusive rights over the three western rivers of the Indus
river system (Jhelum, Chenab and Indus) to Pakistan, and over the three eastern rivers (Sutlej,
Ravi and Beas) to India, as long as it does not reduce or delay the supply to Pakistan. Absence of
adequate water for irrigation stresses regional economy which leads to failing of legal and local
governance institutions. Apart from that, floods and urban water supply were issues of contention
within governance systems in two stakeholders, Indian and Pakistan. Here we find water dispute
in IRB arose due to poor governance and lack of proper institutions to manage water between two
stakeholders, which stressed the amount of water available in the basin, affecting economy of the
downstream water user (Pakistan). Changing climate worldwide and its effect on mountain snowcaps and glaciers have been exerting new set of challenges to the governance and institutions
managing the waters of IRB. IRB is one of the regions in the world that is faced with major
challenges for its water sector, due to population growth, rapid urbanisation and industrialisation,
environmental degradation, unregulated utilization of the resources, inefficient water use and
poverty, all aggravated by climate change. Conflicting behaviour of glaciers, such as retreating,
advancing, and even surging, within small distances poses big challenge for hydrogeology and
water regimes. Glacial fluctuations and changes in precipitation patterns are expected to alter the
hydrology of the river basin, hence jeopardising hydropower generation and agricultural
production and consequently altering people’s livelihoods.