Latest news with #IRSA
Business Recorder
16-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Floods, disasters cannot be controlled completely: Leghari
KARACHI: Engineer Ehsan Leghari, Sindh's representative in IRSA, stated that disasters or floods cannot be completely controlled; therefore, we must learn to live with floods. He said that the causes of natural disasters or floods are not solely environmental changes; rather, the preparations made for disaster prevention and governance methods also contribute to them. He made these remarks while addressing a seminar held today at a local hotel in Karachi, organized in collaboration between Meta Research Netherlands and PDMA Sindh (Provincial Disaster Management Authority Sindh). The purpose of the seminar was to deliberate on the lessons learned from the 2022 floods and preparations to reduce losses from natural disasters. Engineer Ehsan Leghari said there could be several reasons for the 2022 floods, including the incomplete LBOD (Left Bank Outfall Drain) and RBOD (Right Bank Outfall Drain) projects, weak barrage embankments, and encroachments on canal banks. He stated that the floods of 2010 and 2022 have exposed the causes of flooding in Sindh, so now we must develop a strategy for flood preparedness to minimize losses. Other speakers at the seminar included PDMA's Director Operations Muhammad Shayan Shah, DG Water Sector Improvement Program Nazeer Memon, Salim Ur Rehman Sheikh, Imran Leghari, Muhammad Suleman G. Abro, Sarwan Baloch, and others. The speakers emphasized the causes of natural disasters, the lessons learned, preparations to reduce losses, and creating public awareness about disasters. Ashfaq Soomro, Country Head of MetaMeta, briefing about the organization, informed that MetaMeta has been working for the past 25 years and is active in 10 countries. He stated that MetaMeta has conducted research on the causes and lessons of the 2022 floods in Sindh, Balochistan, and Punjab. According to him, 20 million people were affected in the 2010 floods, while 31 million were affected in 2022. The seminar was also attended by Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, journalist Zufeen, Sahar Gul Bhatti, Nasir Panhwar, Dr. Ali Akbar Hangorjo, Fozia Aziz, and others. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
15-07-2025
- General
- Express Tribune
Learn to live with floods: IRSA member
Disasters like floods cannot be fully controlled, therefore, "we must learn to live with them," said Engineer Ehsan Leghari, Sindh's representative in the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), while addressing a seminar. He said that while environmental changes contribute to natural disasters, weak governance and lack of disaster preparedness also worsen the situation. The seminar was jointly organised by MetaMeta Research Netherlands and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh to review lessons learnt from the catastrophic 2022 floods and to discuss ways to minimise future losses. Leghari pointed out that the incomplete Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) and Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) projects, weak barrage embankments, and widespread encroachments along canal banks were among the key reasons behind repeated flooding in Sindh. "The floods of 2010 and 2022 have exposed serious vulnerabilities. Now is the time to formulate a comprehensive strategy for flood preparedness to mitigate future damages," he stressed.
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First Post
20-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Crops hit, dam water at dead levels: How Pakistan is suffering after Indus Waters Treaty suspension
Pakistan is parched. India's move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty has caused a crisis in the neighbouring country — water flow from the Indus River System has dropped almost 20 per cent. This has affected the kharif crop season, which will negatively impact the beleaguered nation's economy read more Camels sit on the dry riverbed of the Indus River, with the Kotri Barrage in the background, in Jamshoro, Pakistan. File image/Reuters Pakistan is drying up, quite literally. Following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 people lost their lives, India had taken the harsh but just step of placing the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri declaring that the agreement would remain 'in abeyance' until Pakistan took 'credible and irrevocable' steps to cease its support for cross-border terrorism. At the time, many questioned if the move would hurt Pakistan. And the effects of India's decision is now being seen and felt in the neighbouring country — as river waters have reached 'dead' levels, imperilling Pakistan's kharif season. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan's waters at dead levels Official data reveals that the total water released from the Indus River System to Pakistan is almost 20 per cent down compared to same date last year. In the Sindh region, the water flow stood at 1,33,000, cusecs compared to 1,70,000 cusecs last year. Similarly, in Pakistan's Punjab region, the water flow stood at 1,10,500 cusecs, down 20 per cent from 1,30,800 cusecs on June 20 last year. Even in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, the water flow is down to 2,600 cusecs on June 20 from 2,900 cusecs on the same day last year. And this has been an ongoing situation since India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. For instance, on June 16, the 'Daily Water Situation' report released by the Pakistan government's Indus River System Authority (IRSA) showed the total water released from the Indus River System to Pakistan's Sindh province was 1.33 lakh cusecs against 1.6 lakh on the same day last year — a drop of 16.87 per cent. Furthermore, the water levels at the two major reservoirs in Pakistan — Tarbela on the Indus and Mangla on the Jhelum — have dropped to dead storage. Fishermen clear a fishing net in the water on the partially dried up riverbed of the Indus River in Hyderabad, Pakistan. The total water released from the Indus River System to Pakistan is almost 20 per cent down compared to same date last year. File image/Reuters Impact on Pakistan But what does it exactly mean for Pakistan's rivers to reach dead levels and how will it hurt Pakistan? Dead storage levels refers to the water volume stored below the lowest outlet level, essentially unusable for typical water supply purposes. This limits its use for irrigation or drinking. Pakistan's water in reservoirs reaching dead levels will have a significant impact on the country's kharif (summer crops) sowing season. In fact, an India Today report states that kharif farming has already witnessed a dip of more than 20 per cent owing to receiving 1.14 lakh cusecs of water as opposed to 1.43 lakh cusecs a day last year. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The production of kharif crops, namely cotton and maize, has declined by over 30 per cent and 15 per cent in Pakistan, respectively. The production of wheat has also dropped by around nine per cent owing to the water shortage in the country. This, in turn, will hurt an already beleaguered Pakistani economy that is heavily reliant on agriculture. Pakistan's agricultural sector contributes 23 per cent to the country's national income and with production of kharif crops dropping, it will hurt Pakistan's bottomline. Experts note that the situation might improve once the monsoon rains arrive but until then Pakistan will be quenched for thirst. Parched Pakistan writes to India And staring at a water crisis has led Pakistan to write not one but four letters to India, asking it to reinstate the Indus Waters Treaty that was first signed in 1960. Multiple news reports citing sources have said that the secretary of Pakistan's Ministry of Water Resources, Syed Ali Murtaza, has written four letters to India urging it to reconsider its decision to stop the Indus Waters Treaty. The sources state that India's Jal Shakti Ministry has sent all the four letters from Pakistan to the Ministry of External Affairs. And such dire are the circumstances that Pakistan also requested the World Bank , which brokered the deal, to intervene in the matter. However, the World Bank refused to step into the issue. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Supporters of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), carry flags and banners, during a protest against the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India, in Karachi, Pakistan. File image/Reuters Significance of Indus Waters Treaty and India's pause on it Pakistan's water woes arose when India announced that it was putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Signed in September 1960, the agreement governed the allocation of water from the Indus River system between the two countries. Under the arrangement, India was granted rights to the Eastern Rivers: the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, while Pakistan received the Western Rivers: the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. Approximately 70 per cent of the water in the system was allotted to Pakistan. Under the IWT, India was obligated to allow the flow of Western Rivers to Pakistan, with limited rights for agriculture, transport, and hydroelectric projects that do not obstruct river flow. New Delhi's decision to pause the treaty caused much outrage in Pakistan with Islamabad deeming the action to be 'an act of war', adding that it was prepared to respond, 'with full force across the complete spectrum of national power'. And on June 17, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was quoted as telling German broadcaster DW Urdu that any attempt by India to block Pakistan's water supply would be seen as an existential threat, leaving Pakistan with no option but war. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Following India's decision to pause the treaty, New Delhi is also conducting a feasibility study for constructing a 113 km-long canal for redirecting surplus flow from the three western rivers of the Indus water system to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. With inputs from agencies
Express Tribune
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Strategic communication
Listen to article What was lacking in the May 7-10 armed conflict with India was strategic communication — something that is responsible for the prevailing stand-off between Pakistan and India. When the DGMOs of the two countries contacted each other after the ceasefire, it reflected strategic communication between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. De-escalation of the conflict was only possible when the military officials of the two sides entered into strategic communication. What is strategic communication and how is it essential in the context of de-escalation and consequent talks between two adversaries? Why did the strategic communication, an established phenomenon in the Indo-Pak relations since 1980s, break down in a crisis situation and how can it be revitalised in the months to come? According to AI, "Strategic communication is a purposeful approach to using communication to achieve specific organizational goals, whether that's influencing stakeholders, driving change, or improving brand perception. It involves planning, executing, and evaluating communication strategies to ensure they effectively reach and engage the intended audience. This includes understanding the audience, crafting clear and consistent messages, and using appropriate channels to deliver them." According to "Strategic communications is a specialized approach to distributing and receiving information. It means communicating the best message, through the correct channels, to the right people, at the right time and using feedback from this process to stay focused on company goals." In his speech before the 22nd Asia Security Summit Shangri-La dialogue held on May 31, Pakistan's Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza said, "Strategic communication matters. Misconception, narrative warfare and information distortion are the oxygen for escalation. Strategic understanding must precede crisis management. Mechanisms cannot function in a vacuum of trust or amid systemic asymmetries. Durable crisis management requires a foundation of mutual restraint, recognition of red lines and equilibrium, not dominance." Strategic communication cannot take place in isolation and requires 10 conditions: mutual trust, confidence, political will, determination, sharing of information, transparency, monitoring, verification, time-management and mechanism for de-escalation of an armed conflict. Looking at different conflict zones — Kashmir, Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Iran and Israel — one can say that strategic communication failed to yield positive results because the parties involved lacked proper strategic communication and crisis management mechanism. In conflicts which are not violent but reflecting trade and tariff issues, strategic communication requires dialogue and diplomacy to work out a plausible solution. In the case of Pakistan's intra-state water conflicts, strategic communication involving IRSA, federal government and provinces is essential to deal with misconceptions and misunderstanding particularly between Sindh and Punjab. Needless to say, strategic communication is an art and science which is used by the stakeholders to prevent and manage a conflict to take a critical shape. India's suspension of Indus Water Treaty is a classic example of breakdown of strategic communication between the two neighbours. Likewise, the Shimla Pact of July 1972 — which transformed the ceasefire line of 1948 to the line of control and contained various elements to establish peace between India and Pakistan following the December 1971 war — was under the threat of unilateral revocation but got saved because both parties wanted to maintain it. In this scenario, strategic communication is an innovative idea which is useful for the parties concerned to keep a treaty or an agreement in tact alongside ensuring that it also deals with the challenge of crisis management. Henceforth, strategic communication in the context of the May 7-10 Indo-Pak armed conflict needs to be examined from three sides. First, the breakdown of strategic communication happened when India took an extreme step in retaliation to the Pahalgam terrorist attack of April 22, blaming it on Pakistan. Despite Pakistan's condemnation of that terrorist attack which killed 26 tourists and its proposal to conduct a neutral international inquiry, the Modi government went ahead with its unilateral judgment by launching missile and drone attacks against Pakistan on May 7. Had there been strategic communication between India and Pakistan, there would have been no escalation in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. One wonders why despite military CBMs between India and Pakistan, like the hotline between DGMOs, New Delhi used military option against Islamabad. It means the Indian side had given up on the option of using strategic communication at the highest level like direct talk between the Prime Ministers of the two countries or military chiefs. That led to the outbreak of a dangerous crisis which only got de-escalated with the announcement of a ceasefire on May 10 by US President Donald Trump through a tweet. It means strategic communication to defuse a dangerous crisis situation added an external power to the situation. Second, after the ceasefire, India refused to accept there was any external role and argued that the two sides only agreed to stop fighting when their military high-ups decided to cease fire. It means despite its earlier avoidance of strategic communication as a fundamental requirement to manage a military crisis, India opted for that technique. But the question is, for how long will the Indo-Pak stand-off continue and how can strategic communication, which led to the ceasefire, help the process of crisis management, conflict management and ultimately conflict resolution? Given the situation and ground realities prevailing since April 22, the fragility of strategic communication would continue to threaten the holding of ceasefire. Third, there is no shortcut to ensuring a sustained ceasefire unless the two sides agree to resume the process of dialogue. More than Pakistan, India will suffer because of the prevailing stand-off due to the severe economic ramifications in the form of closed airspace and threat of declining foreign investment in case of resumption of the armed conflict. Only by adhering to basic requirements of strategic communication and crisis management, Pakistan and India can do away with the prevailing stand-off. It's pertinent to mention here that the stand-off between the government and the opposition in Pakistan is also because of the absence of strategic communication between the two.
NDTV
17-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Indus Water Flow From India To Pakistan's Sindh Drops 17%, Crops Hit
New Delhi: The sowing of Kharif, or monsoonal, crops in Pakistan is taking a hit because of a drop in water from the Indus River System being released from India following the suspension of the water-sharing treaty after the Pahalgam terror attack, a report by Islamabad has indicated. The latest "Daily Water Situation" Report released by the Pakistan government's Indus River System Authority (IRSA) shows the total water released from the Indus River System to Pakistan's Sindh province on June 16 this year was 1.33 lakh cusecs against 1.6 lakh on the same day last year - a drop of 16.87%. The water released from the Indus River System to the Punjab province is also slightly less on the same date this year - 1.26 lakh cusecs against 1.29 lakh last year, which represents a 2.25% reduction. The report indicates that there is less water left in the rivers and reservoirs connected to the Indus River System in Pakistan at a time when the sowing of Kharif crops is on. This is causing problems for farmers in the country and, with the monsoon in the country still at least two weeks away, the crisis is only expected to deepen. Flood Preparedness Hit? After suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, India has also stopped sharing information about the water level of the rivers connected to the Indus River System with Pakistan. So, when the water level of the rivers connected to the Indus River System increases in India, Pakistan, which is downstream, may find itself unprepared if there is flooding. Treaty Details The Indus Waters Treaty, which was signed in 1960 and remained in place since then despite tensions between the countries, was suspended by India after the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed. As part of the treaty, which was brokered by the World Bank, India has full right over the three eastern rivers in the Indus system - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej - while Pakistan got access to around 135 million acre feet (MAF) of water from the three Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab - all of which flow downstream to the country from India. While Pakistan has objected to the treaty's suspension, India has repeatedly said that "blood and water cannot flow together".
