India’s water attack on Pakistan, water at ‘dead’ levels in…, big plans for Indus Waters are…

Islamabad: Farmers in Pakistan are facing difficulties in planting crops in the Kharif season with consistently lower levels of water in dams. This situation is being created there because of India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, and it is going to get worse in the coming years as New Delhi is planning several projects on the Indus River system. India is mulling over implementing a plan to optimise the usage of the Indus River system via inter-basin water transfers. The plan is to construct a 113-km canal in order to redirect excess water from Jammu & Kashmir to farming-prone states — Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Short-term reservoir maintenance, including flushing and desilting, is underway at the Baglihar and Salal hydroelectric plants on the Chenab River. This work complements other planned initiatives.

The focus of these actions is to store and regulate maximum water flow after the suspension of 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government following the Pahalgam terror attack in April that claimed 26 lives of tourists.

Big Plans For Indus Waters

India is developing a long-term strategy for maximising the Indus River system’s potential. This involves a comprehensive plan for inter-basin water transfers, starting with a feasibility study for a 113-km canal to divert surplus water from Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, as per a report by TOI.

The Chenab Link

The proposed canal, through Ravi-Beas-Sutlej, will connect to the Chenab. This will optimise the utilisation of eastern rivers such as the Yamuna, Beas and Sutlej. It will also enable India to utilise the allocated share of western rivers like Indus, Jhelum and Chenab under the treaty, preventing excess water flow to Pakistan.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has pledged to deliver Indus River water to Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district via canal systems within three years. This project aims to improve irrigation in large agricultural areas, potentially impacting Pakistan’s access to the river’s water. The plan involves redirecting surplus water from Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, aiming for a fairer distribution of water resources across the region.

Pakistan Faces ‘Dead’ Water Levels

Meanwhile, the water levels in rivers flowing to the neighbouring country reached ‘dead’ levels. Rivers such Indus, Jhelum and Chenab which flow from India are witnessing a continuous reduction in volume. This has forced Pak to release more easter than it receives to fulfil the requirements.

Reduced water flow downstream of Jammu & Kashmir dams is expected to worsen during the pre-monsoon season due to routine dam maintenance activities, including desilting and flushing, aimed at increasing storage capacity.

Because of the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, Pak’s Punjab province, where farmers have started the kharif cultivation, is receiving less water compared to the previous year. Pakistan’s Mangla and Tarbela dams, vital water sources, are nearing critically low levels, approaching their minimum operational capacity, despite the monsoon season being approximately one month away.

This simply means that a further decrease in water flow may leave Islamabad with very few options to cater to its farming operations before the arrival of the monsoon.

News