Credibility deficit

CONFLICT over the waters of the Indus is more than a century old.

British-era documents provide evidence that Sindh — when it was governed by Bombay — protested against the waters’ upstream diversion through a series of projects in the Punjab. The Bombay administration always viewed upstream diversion as detrimental to Sindh’s share, and argued against the construction of the Thal and Haveli canals in the 1920s.

The Punjab constructed canal colonies in the 1880s by diverting the water from the tributary rivers. Water withdrawal by Punjab during the Rabi season increased from 1,400 cusecs in 1867-68 to 28,000 cusecs in 1921-22. Th...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]