International Conference on Water Resources Governance in the Indus Basin 2013

Water Resources Governance in the Indus Basin

The Department organized a two days conference on Water Resources Governance in the Indus Basin on 9th and 10th of January, 2013. The conference sought to explore critical perspectives on the politics of water in the Indus Basin. We define the Indus Basin by its natural watershed from Kabul in Afghanistan to north-western states of India, and most of Pakistan’s territory including Gilgit-Baltistan. The dominant discourse in understanding water related issues in Pakistan and India, since independence from colonial rule in 1947, has been a managerial-technocratic discourse, which tends to depoliticize issues pertaining to water. Critical decisions concerning water distribution and management have generally been taken in the absence of a full scale political participation of all the stake holders. Furthermore, water has played a significant role in the delineation of the social, political, and economic structures of the Indus society. Impending water scarcity and uncertainty due to climate change in the basin, coupled with a bourgeoning population, poses major challenges to these hydraulic societies. Problematizing these challenges and framing strategic responses to negotiate these challenges remained the main concerns of the conference.

 Day I: January 09, 2013

9:00-11:00 Inaugural Session
Keynote Address: Dr. Daanish Mustafa, King’s College, London
11:00-11:30 Tea break
11:30-13:30 Session I: Power and Politics in the History of the Indus Basin
Session Chair: Dr. Saeed Shafqat, Director CPPG, FC University
Speaker Topic
Dr. Dan Haines
Dept. of History, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
The Politics of a Technical Approach to the Indus Basin Rivers Dispute, 1948-1960
Mr. Abdul Aijaz
Dept. of Political Science, GC University, Pakistan
Questioning the Hegemonic Discourse in Water Management
Mr. Mushtaq Gaadi
National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan
Forever with the Indus-scape: Epic Memory, Counter-narrative and Siraiki Identity
Prof. David Gilmartin
Dept. of History, North Carolina State University, USA
Professional Water Engineers and Water Lords: Some Thoughts on the Colonial Politics of the Indus Basin
Mr. Muhammad Azeem Shah
International Water Management Institute, Pakistan
Rains or Reigns? A post-colonial critique of 2010 Floods in Pakistan
13:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Panel Discussion I: Will Water Induce Conflict or Cooperation? 
Moderator: Dr. Zafar Adeel, Director, UNU-INWEH
Panellists:
Dr. Ali Taqueer, Director, LEAD Pakistan
A.N.G. Abbasi, Former Chairman, Technical Committee on Water
Tariq Hameed, Former Chairman, WAPDA
Anwar Aziz Chaudhry, Former Federal Minister
Dr. Mehmood Ahmed, FAO Cairo
15:30-16:00 Tea break
16:00-18:00 Session II: Conflict and Cooperation along the Indus Rivers:
Pakistan and its Neighbours in international and regional settings
Session Chair: Kazi Afak, Visiting Faculty, Department of Political Science, GC University
Speaker Topic
Dr. Shaista Tabassum
Department of International Relations, University of Karachi
Unfolding the Challenges to the Shared Waters of Indus Basin System
Ms. Harriet Bigas
United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment & Health, Canada
Water as a Security Issue: The Push for Recognition on the Global Security Agenda
Dr. Ghazi Azam
Cornell University, USA/NESPAK, Pakistan
Governance and Management Constraints to Sustainable Water Allocation in the Indus River Basin: The 1991 Interprovincial Water Accord
Mr. Dave J. Devlaeminck
Dept. of Philosophy, McMaster University and Water Without Borders, UNU-INWEH, Canada
Merging Frameworks: The Human Right to Water within an Interventionist Approach
Dr. Douglas Hill
Dept. of Geography, University of Otago, New Zealand
Towards an alternative regionalism? Transboundary water resources, South Asian civil society networks and the Indus Basin

Day II: January 10, 2013

9:00-11:00 Session III: The Impact of Increased Demands for Water on Development in the Indus Basin
Session Chair: Asif H. Qazi, Former Special Secretary (Water), Government of Pakistan
Dr. Zafar Adeel
United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment & Health, Canada
The International ‘Water Security’ Agenda and its Relevance for the Indus Basin
Mr. Usman Siddiqi
Dept. of Political Science, GC University, Pakistan
Water and Energy Impacts in Pakistan
Dr. Giovanna Gioli, Prof. Jürgen Scheffran and Mr. Talimand Khan
Climate Change and Security Research Group, University of Hamburg, Germany and Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan
Socio-economic Impacts of Water-related Hazards in Northern Pakistan
Dr. Awais Piracha
Dept. of Geography and Urban Studies, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Awareness of climate change impacts on water resources among town planning officials in Pakistan
11:00-11:30 Tea break
11:30-13:00 Panel Discussion II: The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in the Indus Basin
Moderator:
Panellists:
Shams ul Mulk, Former Chairman, WAPDA
Ahmed Bilal, Director, PILDAT
Mehmood Ul Hassan, Advisor, Irrigation Department, Punjab
Abdul Khaliq Khan, Advisor, Mega Dams
Irfan Ali, Secretary (Food), Punjab
13:00-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:30 Session IV: Water Management and the Culture of Irrigation in the Indus Basin
Session Chair: Dr. Muhammad Waseem, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, LUMS
Speaker Topic
Prof. Ganesh P. Shivakoti
School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Innovative Research Issues Addressing Policies, Institutions and Governance Challenges of Irrigation in Twenty-First Century
Dr. Imran Ali
Karachi School for Business and Leadership, Pakistan
Reform of Irrigation Management in Punjab, and Implications for Institutional Modernization
Mr. Muhammad Asif Kamran and Prof. Ganesh P. Shivakoti
Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology, Pakistan and School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Institutional Dynamism and Performance of Spate Irrigation Systems in the Punjab, Pakistan
Asrar-ul-Haq, M. Aamir Khan, M. Hasnain Khan
Punjab Irrigation Department
Water Resources Management in Pak