Cusec Deadlock The Indus and Hydropolitics in a Fault Zone
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Rohan D’Souza (Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University) Cusec Deadlock The Indus and Hydropolitics in a Fault Zone “River waters: Perspectives and Challenges for Asia” New Delhi, 18 th -20 th , November, 2011 Foundation for NON VIOLENT ALTERNATIVES
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Cusec Deadlock The Indus and Hydropolitics in a Fault Zone. Rohan D’Souza (Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University). “River waters: Perspectives and Challenges for Asia” New Delhi, 18 th -20 th , November, 2011 Foundation for NON VIOLENT ALTERNATIVES. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Cusec Deadlock The Indus and Hydropolitics in a Fault Zone
Rohan D’Souza(Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal
Nehru University)
Cusec Deadlock The Indus and Hydropolitics
in a Fault Zone
“River waters: Perspectives and Challenges for Asia”New Delhi, 18th-20th , November, 2011
Foundation for NON VIOLENT ALTERNATIVES
19th Century Modern Hydrology
Two Centuries of negotiating bends and turns
20th Century Nation Making
The steady elimination of the Pastoral , the Nomad and landscapes of mobility.
From Inundation to Perennial Irrigation.
Cusecs harnessed with universal principles of science and technology
Settled agriculture defines colonial presence and power
The Emergence of Modern Water Management:
A History of Manipulation and Control
BarragesCanals
WeirsThe ExoskeletonRivers into CanalsPermanent head-worksDiversions Shuffling flows
Rivers without Borders
Indus as National Biography: Nature as Nation and Nation as
Nature
Upper Riparian vrs. Lower Riparian
Head-works vrs. Flows
IWT was a techno-engineering solution
In the Expert we Trust
Neutral facts to trump Interpretation
Disenchanted Divisions The Insoluble Dilemmas of the IWT (1960)
Demography, Geography and Hydrology
Water demand: Urban vrs. Rural vrs. Industry vrs. Agriculture vrs. Environmental Flows…etc
Generates ‘overbuilt basins’
Absolute Scarcity and absolute Surplus
Driven by centralized management and big engineering
The Clutter of Conflict
Coordination Mechanisms a)Indus Commission; b)Governments of Pakistan
and India c)Neutral Experts and d)Court of Arbitration.
Replace Anarchy on the Ground with Rules of the Expert and Transform Violence into Legal-Technical Contention.
Water does not have a History Flows lack ecological contexts and can be shuffled across distances and environments
IWT and the Hopes of Quantification
Cusecs + Kilowatts = River
But what is a River? Fluvial Processes
A River of Qualities Fluvial regimes are complex geomorphologic, chemical and biological processes in motion.
Rivers are made up of habitatmosaics that support a wide variety of aquatic and riparian species.
Variable flows create and maintain particular dynamics between the channel, floodplain, wetland and the estuary.
The magnitude and frequency of high and low flows regulate numerous ecological processes
Reworking the IWT from the Delta Upwards
New Constituencies for New Dialogues
Re-crafting compacts as discussionsamongst river communities
De-centering the Expert
Instead of Seeing like a State should we Think like
a River ?
Recovering Place
Restoring Qualities to Flows
Those who are good at controlling water give it the best opportunity to flow away, those who are good at controlling people give them plenty of chance to talk.
Chia Jang, 16th C, Han Engineer
