- Pakistan faces worsening water shortages as Taliban plans to divert Kunar River water
- The diversion aims to supply Afghanistan's Nangarhar region, reducing flow to Pakistan
- Kunar River flows from Pakistan to Afghanistan and back, vital for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Pakistan's mounting water crisis is likely to worsen, as the Taliban government in Afghanistan has decided to move ahead with its plans to divert water from the Kunar River towards the Nangarhar region in the country -- a move that could sharply reduce downstream flows into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The development, which threatens to open a fresh front in already strained Afghanistan-Pakistan ties, comes after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty.
According to a report by the Afghanistan Times, at a meeting of the Technical Committee of the Economic Commission of the Office of the Prime Minister, the proposal to transfer water from the Kunar River to the Darunta Dam in Nangarhar was approved following discussions and referred to the Economic Commission for a final decision.
Once implemented, the project is expected to resolve water shortages affecting many agricultural lands in Afghanistan's Nangarhar, but it will affect the flow of water to Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
How The Move Will Affect Pakistan
Running for nearly 500 km, the Kunar River originates from the Hindu Kush mountains in the Chitral district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It then flows south into Afghanistan, running through the Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, before emptying into the Kabul River.
The combined rivers, boosted by the waters of a third, the Pech, then turn east into Pakistan again and join the Indus near the city of Attock in that country's Punjab province.
The river is one of the largest to flow into Pakistan and, like the Indus, is a key source of irrigation, drinking water, and generation of hydroelectric power, particularly for the remote Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region that has been the epicentre of cross-border violence.
Should Afghanistan build dams on the Kunar before the river enters Pakistan, it is likely to cripple the latter's access to water for irrigation, drinking water supply and hydropower projects for people already left parched by India restricting the Indus water supply.
More importantly, unlike the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Delhi, Islamabad has no treaties governing the sharing of these waters with Kabul, meaning there is no immediate recourse to force the Taliban to stand down. This has raised fears of Pak-Afghan violence spiralling again.
