To divert or stop the waters of the “Sarnash”, the name of the Indus in Hindu mythology means the “ever flowing” will not be easy.

The Hindu gods were more knowledgeable than the current Prime Minister of India, they were certainly more benign. What they knew and perhaps the Government of India does not is that rivers flow according to the topography of the land, the principles of geography and not as per the whims of the rulers of the time. They are “ever flowing.”

Their water flows not just on the surface of the land but subterraneously as well. In many districts of the Punjab and Sindh through which the Sarnash and its tributaries flow most of the irrigation needs of the farmers are met from wells and not through canals and the water channels.

As per Dr Daanish Mustafa, a professor of Geography at King’s College, 80% of the water flowing into Tarbela dam on the Indus is from within the territory under Pakistani control. I have been to the Indus at Raana Dheri 10 km downstream of Tarbela when the spillways were totally closed, and the water from the generators was fed to the channels joining the river at Kalabagh. To me the river felt huge and was flowing with considerable water.

It appears that there is enough seepage and the subterranean flows fill up the river again below the spillways. Any damming above the ground will not be able to stop the flow of subterranean flows. So to talk of stopping........

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