The government has decided to “stop” the flow of India’s share of water to Pakistan from rivers under the Indus Water Treaty,
Union minister Nitin Gadkari said this a week after the Pulwama terror attack claimed the lives of 44 CRPF soldiers.
The move to stop the flow of Indus water to Pakistan comes amid mounting Indo-Pak tension over the Pulwama terror strike
India has already decided to revoke the Most Favoured Nation status
There were demands to stop flow of India’s share of Indus water to Pakistan after the Uri terror attack in 2016 as well.
Officials said the actual implementation of the decision may take up to six years as dams as high as 100 metres will have to be built to stop flow of water.
Under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, the waters of the western rivers – the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab – was given to Pakistan and those of the eastern rivers – the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej – to India.
India’s share of water from Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers came to 33 million acres feet (MAF). While about 95 per cent of the water was being used in the country after the construction of three main dams across the rivers, close to 5 per cent water would flow to Pakistan.
The Union Cabinet in December had approved the Shahpurkandi dam project on the Ravi river in Punjab.
