The pact has survived wars, but Nitin Gadkari has now asked officials to see if there were
‘technical ways’ to stop the flow of water that belongs to Pakistan.
Is the announcement by Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari that India would
use up its share of waters in the rivers flowing to Pakistan a new one?
That India would use the entire share of water allotted to it under the Indus Waters Treaty,
has been the government’s traditional position. Then, in the aftermath of the Uri attack that
claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared
that “blood and water” couldn’t flow together and suspended India’s participation in the
Permanent Indus Commission, where India and Pakistan regularly meet to discuss sharing
of waters in the Indus river basin system. Among the decisions taken at the time was one to
“fully utilise” India’s share of water. Work has progressed towards this end, according to
the government. (The Indus commission talks too have resumed). In the aftermath of Mr.
Gadkari’s tweets of February 21, to “stop India’s share of water” into Pakistan, Neeta
Prasad, a spokesperson in the Union Water Resources ministry, told presspersons that “this
is not a new decision… Mantriji [Minister] is simply reiterating what he has always said.”
How many dams is India planning to build to ensure that it uses up all of its share of
the water?
India already utilises 95% of the 33 MAF (million acre feet) allotted to it under the norms
of the Indus Waters Treaty. To consume the entire share, the government has undertaken
steps to stop the flow of almost 2 MAF from the Ravi river, from Madhopur. These include
completing the Shahpurkandi project, constructing the Ujh multipurpose project — to
create 781 million cubic metre storage on the Ujh, a tributary of the Ravi — and developing
the second Ravi-Beas link below Ujh. The last project alone will utilise 0.58 MAF of surplus
water below the Ujh dam by diverting the same to Beas basin. All three are ‘national
projects.’
Is the Minister’s statement intended to pile up the rhetoric on Pakistan?
Yes. While it has been India’s stated position to fully utilise its eastern rivers, Mr. Gadkari
said on Friday that he had asked officials in the Water Resources Ministry to see if there
were “technical ways” to stop the flow of Indus water that rightfully belong to Pakistan.
One way — again an option that India has already exercised — is its construction of the
Kishenganga Project, on the Jhelum and the Ratle project on the Chenab. Both of these are
projects on the western rivers and under provisions of the Indus treaty, may be exploited
by Pakistan. However, the treaty also allows India to use the water from these rivers in a
“non-consumptive way” — that is, in a way that does not impede the flow of these rivers
into Pakistan. Pakistan has objected to both these projects on the grounds that they do
impede the flow. In theory, it is possible for India to violate the treaty and impede the flow
of these waters in such a way that it makes hydropower projects by Pakistan on the Jhelum
and Chenab unviable (as Pakistan already claims it does). However, the IWT has survived
wars between India and Pakistan and it’s still speculative if the Pulwama incident rankles
India enough to consider violating the treaty.
India and Pakistan’s water sharing is governed by the Indus Waters Treaty, which
was brokered by the World Bank. Can India abrogate this treaty?
Neither India nor Pakistan can unilaterally abrogate the treaty. Article 12 of the treaty says:
“The provisions of this Treaty, or, the provisions of this Treaty as modified under the
provisions of Paragraph (3), shall continue in force until terminated by a duly ratified
treaty concluded for that purpose between the two governments.” The IWT is about
sharing of water of six rivers — Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej — between
India and Pakistan.
The two countries signed it in 1960 under the leadership of the then Prime Minister of
India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Pakistan President, Ayub Khan, and was brokered by the
World Bank after nine years of negotiations.
Under the treaty, India has control over water flowing in the eastern rivers — Beas, Ravi
and Sutlej, while Pakistan has control over the western rivers of Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.
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