SECTION III
PCWR ACTIONS

3.1

SECTION SUMMARY:

3.1.1

In order to understand the water strategy, presentations were made to PCWR by the Ministry of Water & Power, WAPDA, Federal Flood Commission, IRSA, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Food & Agriculture. This was followed by two round of visits to provinces; first to seek provincial views on the water strategy, both government and water stakeholders and in the 2nd round to meet more leaders of political parties and various stakeholders to seek their views on various issues of water sector. Several project sites were also visited, including a day long aerial view of projects in NWFP accompanied by the Chief Minister and his Ministers. Several follow up meetings were held at Islamabad on various issues of water sector and a number of decisions were made, besides the consensus achieved in Chief Ministers meeting of July 20, 2004.

3.1.2 

Press briefings were held after all meetings of the Committee to share key water information with the public. A total of 12 press briefings were held. The Committee developed its own web site through the assistance of WAPDA which was launched on April 26, 2004. All the important water data presented in the meetings was posted on the web site for the public access and to get constructive suggestions. A number of advertisements on water were released in national press besides airing of a special water song/jingle on radio. 

3.1.3 
Details of PCWR actions are given hereinafter:- 


3.2


FEDERAL MEETINGS:
 
3.2.1

A total of 16 meetings were held at Islamabad in which presentation were made by various Federal Ministries and Departments on the water strategy. Follow up meetings were held for discussions and deliberations on water issues. In a meeting held on December 16, 2003, a unanimous decision was made for conducting three studies on minimal escapages below Kotri for checking sea intrusion and environmental needs, as well as environmental concerns in other areas of the country. PCWR made a status presentation before the four Chief Ministers on July 20, 2004, in which consensus decisions were made on 1991 Water Accord, Provincial Priority Projects and large dams. A brief summary of the meetings is given as under:

i.

November 11, 2003: PCWR’s first meeting in which TORs were discussed and an Action Plan was developed to achieve the objectives assigned to the Committee. Two additional TORs were added which were subsequently shared with the Prime Minister and Speaker in meeting with Chairman PCWR and accepted. Presentation was given by Ministry of Water & Power on the “National Irrigation Water Strategy” followed by a presentation by Chairman WAPDA on “Development of Water Resources” in the country.

ii.

December 09, 2003: Chief Engineering Adviser/ Chairman Federal Flood Commission, Ministry of Water & Power gave a presentation on the Entire Plan of Implementation of Study of Water Releases Downstream Kotri.

iii.

December 10, 2003: Secretary, Ministry of Environment gave presentation on all the schemes relating to environment including the schemes approved, not implemented, under consideration, and under implementation. Presentation on Lining of Canals & Distributaries was also given by Secretary, Water & Power.

iv.

December 16, 2003: A unanimous decision was made with complete consensus of all the four provinces for undertaking three studies for (i) Water escapages below Kotri Barrage to check sea intrusion, (ii) Water escapages downstream Kotri Barrage to address environmental concerns and (iii) Environmental concerns of all four provinces (excluding areas covered under study I&II).

v. 

March 08, 2004: Presentation given by IRSA on 1991 Water Accord, followed by demonstration of PCWR web site (www.pakwaters.gov.pk).

vi. 

March 09, 2004: Presentation was given by WAPDA on Large Dams.

vii. 

March 25, 2004: Committee Members took stock of the deliberations held thus far, and in light of inputs received, work plan and schedule for the coming months was developed (Annexure-III).

viii. 

April 22, 2004: A meeting was held between Chairman PCWR, Sindh Government and WAPDA to discuss water availability for large reservoirs.

ix. 

April 26, 2004: PCWR gave its presentation to Federal and Provincial Government representatives on the “Status Progress” and future action plan was finalized in consultation with provinces.

x. 

May 05, 2004: Discussions were held on Water Availability for Large Reservoirs. Since subject of water availability is part of TORs of the Technical Committee, all Provincial Irrigation Secretaries, supported by some members of PCWR, unanimously asked PCWR not to take any decision on water availability and wait for Technical Committee’s recommendations.

xi. 

June 04, 2004: Meeting was held between Chairman PCWR and Chairman TCWR to discuss measures for interaction between the two Committees.

xii.

June 14, 2004: Detailed presentation was given by WAPDA on Prospective Large Storage Projects and Flood Canals. A set of “Frequently Asked Questions” was developed by Committee and given to WAPDA, which was responded to by WAPDA (Annexure-IV).

xiii.

June 22, 2004: Committee members visited IRSA Headquarters for briefing on functions of the Organization and review of the Telemetry System.

xiv. 

July 20, 2004: PCWR meeting with all the four Chief Ministers for briefing on Committee’s TORs, Actions, and Up-to-date Status, and to evolve consensus on water issues. The following consensus decisions were made:

 a.

1991 Water Accord is sacrosanct and will be implemented in ‘toto' without any reference to 1994 Ministerial Decisions.

 b.

Provincial priority projects and small reservoirs are supported, costing Rs. 8.1 billion in the first year. However, priority A and B will be submitted by provinces for resubmission and consideration for 2004-05.

c.

Large dams need to be built in the country but with consensus.
xv. 

July 28, 2004: PCWR members’ internal meeting to discuss and finalize the Interim Report Presentation.

xvi. 

August 23, 2004: PCWR members’ internal meeting to discuss and finalize the Interim Report. 

3.3

PROVINCIAL MEETINGS & SITE VISITS:

3.3.1

Provincial headquarters were visited in the 1st round to seek provincial views on the water strategy, both government and water stakeholders. Presentations were given by provinces on agenda items provided by PCWR. Each presentation was followed seeking views of invited stakeholders and discussions held. A set of the provincial presentations is attached as Appendix–I. Dates of the meetings and sites visited are listed as under:

i.

December 23, 2003, Peshawar: Presentation was given on water strategy by Irrigation & Power Department, NWFP.

ii.

January 20, 2004, Lahore: Presentation was given on water strategy by Irrigation & Power Department, Punjab. Visit to Balloki Headworks to examine Telemetry System.

iii.

January 28, 2004, Quetta: Presentation was given on water strategy by Irrigation & Power Department, Balochistan.

iv.

March 06, 2004, Karachi: Presentation was given on water strategy by Irrigation & Power Department, Sindh. Visit to Kotri Barrage to examine Telemetry System.

3.3.2

In the 2nd round of visit to provinces, leaders of political parties and stakeholders were met to seek their views on various issues of water sector. A total of 31 politicians and 45 stakeholders participated in the meetings; the list of names, parties and organizations is attached as Annexure-V. Dates of the meetings and sites visited are listed as under:

i.

May 09 & 10, 2004, Peshawar: Meetings with politicians and stakeholders. Provincial project visited include Changhoz Dam site, and aerial view of CRBC, Kurram Tangi Dam, Tank Zam, Sheikh Haider Zam, Daraban Zam, Chudwan Zam, & Spurs on Right Bank of River Indus. The Chief Minister of NWFP alongwith his Ministers, MPAs and Irrigation Officials accompanied the Committee on the day long visit in helicopter. Detailed briefing on the projects was given at D.I. Khan.

ii.

May 14 & 15, 2004, Lahore: Meetings with politicians and stakeholders. Visit to Gandasinghwala site downstream Ferozepur Headworks on River Sutlej.

iii.

May 17, 2004, Karachi: Meetings with politicians and stakeholders. Planned aerial view of Indus Delta, Manchar Lake, RBOD and LBOD projects could not be arranged by Sindh Irrigation Department due to non-availability of helicopter.

iv.

May 19 & 20, 2004: Meetings with politicians and stakeholders. Visit to Khushdil Khan Bund in District Pishin.

3.4

MEDIA COMMUNICATION:

3.4.1

Media Communication constituted an important element of the Committees modus operandi for sharing data/ information on water through; press briefings, website, advertisements in national press and airing of song/jingle on radio. The overall objective of the media plan was to create awareness on the importance of water in order to help develop consensus on national irrigation strategy for effective use of water and conservation. The following modes of communication were used:

3.4.2

Press Briefings: Press briefings were held after each meeting of the Committee to share key information with the public. A total of 12 press briefings were held.

3.4.3 

Web Site Creation (www.pakwaters.gov.pk): PCWR developed its own web site through the assistance of WAPDA which was formally launched on April 26, 2004 witnessed by Chairman Senate and Deputy Speaker National Assembly. All the important water data presented in the meetings was posted on the web site for the public to access and to get constructive suggestions. To date, about 6,500 visitors have logged on to the web site, 239 emails were received and 89 responded to. The remainder were either junk mails or contained viruses. A hard copy of the web site is attached as Appendix-II.

3.4.4

Advertisement & Song: Another important feature of the Media Campaign was the release of advertisements in leading English, Urdu and Sindhi newspapers. The advertisements appeared as follows.

English: Dawn, News, Times, Nation, dated May 6 & 7, 2004
Urdu: Jang, Khabrain, Nawa-e-Waqat, Awami Awaz, dated May 5 - 7, 2004
Sindhi: Khabroon, Kawish, Ibrat, Mehran, Pak, Hilal-e-Pakistan, Halchal, Sindh Times, Sach, Tameere-Sindh, Sindhu, dated May 5 & 7, 2004

 

Samples of the advertisements are attached as Annexure-VI, along with text of the special song/ jingle that was also aired on radio Pakistan and FM 100 for the month of May 2004 (CD enclosed as Appendix-III).

3.5

INTERACTION WITH TECHNICAL COMMITTEE:

3.5.1 
Technical Committee on Water Resources was constituted by the Federal Ministry of Water & Power on November 15, 2003, in pursuance of the directive of the President of Pakistan. However, due to administrative and TOR issues brought forward by the Chairman Technical Committee it started its formal functioning in February 2004. The Technical Committee is headed by Mr. A.N.G Abbasi with its own TORs and also to complement the PCWR in the discharge of its functions. The Chairman Technical Committee was invited to all PCWR meetings, starting in November 2003 and site visits to share information, get technical guidance and participate in PCWR deliberations.