Early this month, the resolution of the Union Cabinet to constitute a special purpose vehicle- Polavaram Project Authority (PPA)- caught the Odisha government napping. Instead, the news has attracted cautious criticism from the state government. With General election in full swing and Telengana Statehood is commencing- it is beyond obvious that political parties, , leader of oppositions including incumbent State and Union governments would left no stone unturned to gain political mileage of blame game. It is less important to read between the lines on the timing of PPA.
While the world is gradually moving towards a green economy, Orissa is seen to be embracing a brown economy. Depending on the likes of Vedanta, POSCO, batteries of sponge iron, and coal companies, which have demonstrated negligible social and environmental sensitivities, the state government intends to allocate exclusive water to such industries. On August 5, the state cabinet approved a proposal to create a 'water conservation fund' from the monetary contribution of industries which use the water from October to June.
The strategically significant Central Asian region, which feeds by two historically important river systems- Amu Darya and Syr Darya with credible hydrocarbon and oil resources, quite often attracts theories of 'resource conflict', 'water war' and 'great game'. However, cooperative management of strategic rivers to cater to the needs of riparian countries remains an unresolved issue. Presently, the UN is organising a two-day (August 20-21) High-Level International Conference on Water Cooperation (HLICW) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
This World Water Day (22 March 2013) calls for cooperation on transboundary rivers. With 276 transboundary river basins worldwide, it makes sense for countries in the Indian subcontinent and China to consider them seriously.
Thinking about a majestic river like the Indus River in South Asia attracts more perspective and situation room strategies than a possible benefit-sharing solution. From countless war strategies to suing each other in legal battles, from instigating to investigation, from hydro-phobia to hydro-politics, from misinformation to deliberately uninformed, India and Pakistan have been engaged in myriad exchanges and wasting time and opportunity. The exception could have been only during the ancient Indus Civilisation when settlements on both sides of the river respected the Indus as one.