India to Stop Water Flow to Pak: All About The Indus Water Treaty

After the Pulwama attack, India has asserted the need for strong retaliation against Pakistan.

Image used for representational purposes only. 

(Photo: The Quint)

In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, Union Water Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday, 21 February, that India will divert Pakistan’s share of water from Eastern rivers – Ravi, Beas and Satluj – and instead supply it to Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab.

According to government data, under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), waters from the Eastern rivers are already assigned to India for unrestricted access. However, India does not utilise all of the available water, and this un-utilised portion flows to Pakistan. This is what the government aims to stop.

This sentiment was first made and acted upon after the 2016 Uri attack, when India decided to focus on limiting the flow of water to Pakistan, and the Shahpur-Kandi and Ujh water projects were revived. While India had already undertaken these projects earlier, the construction of dams to divert water could take up to six years, reported The Times of India.

In response, Pakistan has said that it has no objection to this move, according to Dawn.

So, What is The Indus Water Treaty?

The IWT is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan signed on September 19, 1960 by the then-prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then-Pakistan’s president Ayub Khan. It is the most generous and steady water-sharing pact in modern world history.

The World Bank brokered the water-sharing deal and despite the Indus originating in Tibet, China was not included in the treaty. A permanent post of Commissioner of Indus Waters was created to represent each country as a channel of communication and together they formed the Permanent Indus Commission.

Put simply, the IWT deals with the river Indus and its five tributaries, which are divided into the eastern (Sutlej, Beas, Ravi) and western (Jhelum, Chenab, Indus) rivers. According to the treaty, the water from the eastern rivers shall be available for unrestricted use in India and similarly, western river water would be for unrestricted use in Pakistan.

This effectively allocates 80% of water from the six-river Indus water system to Pakistan.

To balance the deal, the IWT states that India can still use the western rivers’ water in “non-consumptive” needs. This means India can use it for irrigation, storage and even for electricity production. However, India has not built any storage, despite the provision, which permits it to store 4.4 billion cubic meters of these rivers’ waters reported Hindustan Times.

Pakistan-India Tensions Over the IWT

The IWT has enabled a peaceful sharing of the Indus waters by both India and Pakistan for 56 years.

But rocky political relations seep into the water treaty as well, and after the 2016 Uri cross-border attack, PM Modi had said, “Blood and water cannot flow simultaneously.” After the attacks, India decided to fast-track water projects that focused on capturing the unutilised water.

The latest tension point in the treaty is about India’s hydroelectric projects along the Chenab River. Pakistan asserts that this violates the IWT and will adversely impact their water supply.

So far, disputes over water sharing, after the treaty was ratified, have been settled through legal procedures (explained within the framework of the treaty). So despite tensions, IWT remains secure.

IWT in Focus

The Absence of Gujarat:

The Indian Indus river basin flows through Gujarat, but the IWT does not include the state.

This was because when the IWT was made in 1960, the Great Rann of Kutch area was disputed territory between the two nations. This was later settled in 1968 by sharing the total disputed area in a 9:1 ratio between India and Pakistan.

Project Disputes

The Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) project, constructed by Pakistan (with the help of the World Bank) between 1987 and 1997 passes by the Rann of Kutch area. Its aim was to bypass saline and polluted water but has instead caused flooding and contamination in India. The canal overflowed in 2003 and 2011, and has been put on hold for improvements.

Within India, the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (SYL Canal) has become a bone of contention between Haryana and Punjab. In 1966, when the state was bifurcated, being a successor state, Haryana had the eligibility to receive a share of Punjab’s waters.

In 2016, the Punjab legislature passed the Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal Bill 2016, which seeks to restore the land (around 5,376 acres) acquired for the canal, back to the farmers, free of cost. Presently, the Supreme Court has ordered status quo on the Bill.

What Now for India?

Currently, India is aggressively ensuring it meets all the treaty provisions for arresting unutilised water.

After the Uri attack in 2016, it was decided to fast track these water projects. This time, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government has given specific attention to stop unutilised water allotted to India from entering Pakistan.

So in 2019, India utilises 93-94% of its share, and 6-7% of India's unutilised share flows to Pakistan. India is undertaking three projects to ensure India utilises its full share from the eastern rivers.

1. Shahpurkandi dam project on Ravi River
2. A second Sutlej-Beas link in Punjab
3. The Ujh Dam project in Jammu and Kashmir. This water will be given to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan and Delhi along with the northern hill states.

Renuka Dam

In 2019, it was announced that another inter-state dam in India is also underway – the Renukaji Multi-Purpose Dam project in the Upper Yamuna Basin. After the construction of this ‘historic project’, the flow of the Giri river will increase by about 110%. Water from the dam will be used by UP, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.

So for now, the IWT treaty continues to help both countries peacefully negotiate water sharing, although India has now begun taking active steps to adhere to the treaty to its own benefit.

(This article has been published with inputs from ANI, PTI, The Times of India , Hindustan Times and Dawn)