Potential Of Water Wars And Conflicts – OpEd

Apr 22, 2022 | Patial RC
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Water conflicts may soon become the main source of discord between nations replacing the ongoing boundary disputes and discords.  Likely conflicts of water leading to wars may not happen in the near future but the world is witnessing an ongoing ‘Water War’ conflict between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimea water crisis since 2014. Moscow’s struggle to supply Crimea’s 2.4m residents with fresh water has become a flashpoint in this undeclared war after Russian troops seized Crimea from Ukraine. Kyiv fears that Russian troops could advance on Nova Kakhovka, the Dnipro river town where the canal begins to secure water flows from the Dnipro river. Ukrainians claimed in July 2019 that the NCC was blocked because Crimeans stopped paying their water bills after Crimea became a part of Russia.

A successful Soviet era model of water cooperation still exists in the case of the Arpacay Dam (between Armenia and Turkey) and the Stanca-Contesti Dam (between Moldova and Romania) even three decades after the USSR dissolved. ‘Indus waters Treaty’ between India and Pakistan has succeeded so far.

Glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau, the source of many rivers that sustain Asian subcontinent are melting faster than those in any other part of the world. According to reports, the glaciers in Tibet have shrunk by over 15 per cent and the situation is worsening due to global warming. China has ambitious plans to construct dams and other projects on the rivers which enter India. The most critical of these is Brahmaputra diversion project. The mighty river originates from Kailash range in Tibet (Yarlung Tsangpo) and flows eastwards for 16,000 km before entering India; it then meanders into Bangladesh, where it is joined by the Ganges to create the largest delta before entering into the Bay of Bengal.