In the coming days, such action can be seen at the ground level due to which the effect of the ban on Indus Water Treaty of 1960 will be visible. Through this treaty, the use of water of rivers flowing from India to Pakistan in the Indus River valley is controlled. A source having knowledge of this issue has given this information. The source also rejected the notion that no action could be taken without increasing India’s water storage capacity on the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, over which Pakistan has treaty rights.
The source said expansion of storage capacity on these rivers is now on the agenda, made more possible by the absence of treaty restrictions that had been imposed on the transfer of water from one river basin to another.
A day after 26 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday, India canceled the Indus Water Treaty and downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan. The government said the attack had cross-border links and announced that the water treaty was being suspended with immediate effect until Pakistan completely ends its support to cross-border terrorism.
This treaty was signed by India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960, under the mediation of the World Bank. Under this treaty, it defined the rights and obligations of both countries regarding the use of the Indus River system. Under this treaty, the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab The water was allocated to Pakistan and the waters of the former rivers, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, to India.
“It is equally important for Pakistan to estimate not only the quantity of water but also the flow and these are things India can already influence,” said a source associated for the first time with India’s management of the Indus Water Treaty case.
The source said, ‘There is a possibility of impact on water flow forecast in the coming times as India is moving towards fully implementing the rights that it got under the treaty and now some of the restrictions of that treaty are no longer applicable.’ It is noteworthy that more than 80 percent of Pakistan’s irrigation depends on the water of Indus River Valley.
The source said that under the agreement, India had retained the right to use the western rivers for non-consumptive purposes including limited irrigation and hydropower generation. However, there were constraints on storing or diverting their effluent in a way that could affect water flow. By making maximum use of the rights that India already had under the treaty, India can potentially generate 20,000 MW of hydropower potential from western rivers as only about 3,000 MW could be produced in 2016.
First Published – April 25, 2025 | 10:38 PM IST
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