22-Feb-2019: Indus Waters Treaty 1960 : Present Status of Development in India

The Indus system comprises of main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan.

Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas (Eastern Rivers) averaging around 33 million acre feet (MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use. The waters of Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty.

India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through run of the river(RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.

Present status of development in India: To utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers which have been allocated to India for exclusive use, India has constructed Bhakra Dam on Sutlej, Pong and Pandoh Dam on Beas and Thein (Ranjit Sagar) on Ravi. These storage works, together with other works like Beas-Sutlej Link, Madhopur-Beas Link, Indira Gandhi Nahar Project etc. has helped India utilize nearly entire share (95 %) of waters of Eastern rivers. However, about 2 MAF of water annually from Ravi is reported to be still flowing unutilized to Pakistan below Madhopur. To stop the flow of these waters that belong to India for its utilization in India, following steps have been taken:

1. Resumption of Construction of Shahpurkandi project: This project will help in utilizing the waters coming out from powerhouse of Thein dam to irrigate 37000 hectares of land in J&K and Punjab and generate 206 MW of power. The project was scheduled to be completed by September 2016. However, following a dispute between the state of J&K  and Punjab, the work on the project had been suspended since 30.08.2014. Consequent upon agreement reached on 8 September 2018 between J&K and Punjab. The cost of the project is . 2715.70 Crore. Government of India vide order dated 19 December 2018 has approved the Central Assistance of Rs. 485.38 crore towards balance cost of works of irrigated component of the project. The construction work has now resumed by Govt of Punjab under monitoring of Govt of India.
2. Construction of Ujh multipurpose project: This project will create a storage of about 781 million cu m of water on river Ujh , a tributary of Ravi for irrigation and power generation in India itself and provide a total irrigation benefit of 31,380 ha in Kathua, Hiranagar and Samba district of J&K apart from providing water for the district Kathua of J&K. The DPR of the project has been technically approved for the total estimated cost of Rs.5850 crore (July, 2017) . This project is a National Project and the Central Assistance of Rs. 4892.47 crore on works portion of irrigation component as well as the special grant is under consideration. The implementation of the project will be 6 years from beginning of the implementation.
3. The 2nd Ravi Beas link below Ujh: This project is being planned to tap excess water flowing down to Pakistan through river Ravi, even after construction of Thein Dam, by constructing a barrage across river Ravi for diverting water through a tunnel link to Beas basin. The project is expected to utilize about 0.58 MAF of surplus waters below Ujh dam by diverting the same to Beas basin for benefits of other co-basin states. Govt. of India declared this project as National Project .

The above three projects will help India to utilize its entire share of waters given under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960.

28-Jan-2019: Pakistani officials arrive in India to inspect Indus Water Treaty

A delegation of Pakistani officials arrived to attend a general tour of inspection of India’s hydroelectric projects on Chenab River, under the Permanent Indus Commission, which is slated to take place between January 28 to 31.

Pakistan's Indus Commissioner, Syed Mohammad Mehar Ali Shah and Indian Indus Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Saxena, along with their respective advisers will undertake this tour in Chenab basin of Jammu and Kashmir.

This tour is an obligation imposed on both the countries by the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 between India and Pakistan. Under the Treaty, both the Commissioners are mandated to inspect sites and works on both the sides of Indus basin in a block of five years.

Since the signing of the Treaty, a total of 118 such tours on both sides have been undertaken by the Commission. The last tours of the Commission in Pakistan and India were held in July 2013 and September 2014 respectively. So far, no tour could be held in the current five years block which ends in March 2020.

This tour, where the Pakistani officials will be inspecting the Lower Kulnai and Pakal Dal projects, will be followed by the tour of Indian Indus Commissioner to Pakistan, at a mutually convenient date decided between the two Commissioners.

This tour was originally scheduled in October 2018 but was postponed because of elections of local bodies and Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir.

In the previous round of talks, which took place in August, last year when the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power, both sides failed to achieve any progress over the river water dispute.

During the talks, Pakistan had expressed reservations over construction of the 1,000-MW Pakal Dul and 48-MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on two different tributaries of River Chenab by India.

3-Mar-2017: India to attend Lahore meet on Indus Waters Treaty.

Signalling a major shift in its position on talks with Pakistan on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), India has accepted an invitation to attend the next meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) to be held in Lahore in March.

The move came after two months of diplomatic negotiations, with World Bank officials playing mediator in encouraging Pakistan to extend the invitation and for India to accept. A look at the two major hydroelectric projects- Kishenganga and Ratle- in Jammu and Kashmir may be taken up in the meeting.

The Kishenganga Hydroelectric Plant is an $864 million dam which is part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme that is designed to divert water from the Kishenganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin. It is located 5 km north of Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir, India and will have an installed capacity of 330 MW. Construction on the project began in 2007 and is expected to be complete in 2016. Construction on the dam was temporarily halted by the Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration in October 2011 due to Pakistan’s protest of its effect on the flow of the Kishenganga River (called the Neelum River in Pakistan). In February 2013, the Hague ruled that India could divert a minimum amount of water for power generation. The Ratle Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station currently under construction on the Chenab River, downstream of the village of Ratle in Doda district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The project includes a 133 m (436 ft) tall gravity dam and two power stations adjacent to one another.