Priyanka Tiwari
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Suspense crime, Digital Desk : India is taking decisive steps to fully utilize its share of water from the Indus River system, a move strategically designed to enhance its own water security while significantly impacting the unutilized water flow that previously went to its western neighbor, Pakistan. This approach operates within the framework of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).
At the heart of this strategy is the completion and fast-tracking of several key irrigation and hydropower projects on the eastern rivers – the Sutlej, Ravi, and Beas – whose waters were allocated exclusively to India under the IWT. For decades, a considerable amount of India's unutilized share from these rivers flowed downstream into Pakistan. New Delhi is now determined to harness this water fully for its own agricultural and power generation needs.
A landmark achievement in this effort is the near completion of the Shahpur Kandi barrage project on the Ravi river. Once fully operational, this barrage will allow India to optimally use the waters of the Ravi, providing significant irrigation benefits to Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, and crucially, it will stop the unutilized flow of Ravi's water to Pakistan. Other key projects include the Ujh multipurpose project (a tributary of Ravi) and the second Ravi-Beas link, all aimed at maximizing India's water utilization.
This is a critical development for Pakistan, an already water-stressed nation heavily dependent on the Indus basin for its agriculture, drinking water, and overall economy. Any reduction in water flow, even if it's water India is entitled to under the treaty, has serious implications for Pakistan's stability and resources.
The renewed push to maximize water usage gained momentum after terrorist attacks like Uri in 2016 and Pulwama in 2019, prompting India to review its approach to the long-standing treaty. While India gets exclusive rights to the waters of the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi (eastern rivers), Pakistan has rights over the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab (western rivers), though India can use western river waters for limited irrigation and unrestricted non-consumptive uses like hydropower, subject to specific IWT criteria.
It's important to note that India is not abrogating the IWT. Instead, it is meticulously exercising its full rights under the treaty to harness every drop of water allocated to it, thereby "ensuring the treaty's practical application impacts its neighbour" by denying Pakistan the previously unutilized surplus.
Pakistan has frequently raised objections to India's hydroelectric projects on the western rivers, such as Kishenganga and Ratle, taking these matters to international arbitration. India, however, maintains these projects are compliant with the IWT.
By strategically completing these long-pending water projects, India aims to leverage its hydro-resources effectively within its treaty rights, securing its water future and subtly altering the water dynamics with Pakistan.
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