India has decided to fully utilise its share of unused water from three rivers, which is currently flowing into Pakistan; however, the decision will not impact Pakistan’s share of water under the Indus Water Treaty
New Delhi: Blood and water can’t flow together. That was the overweening sentiment in the Modi government when in September 2016, after the Uri attack, it scrapped the biannual Indus Water Commission meeting with Pakistan, stoking fears that India would turn off the taps.
That idea seems to be crystallising now with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday saying that India has decided to fully utilise its share of unused water from rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, which is currently flowing into Pakistan.
1. Under the Indus Waters Treaty — brokered by the World Bank and signed by India and Pakistan in 1960 — India has control over the waters of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers. Pakistan has control over the waters of Jhelum, Chenab and Indus.
2. Of the total 168 million acre-feet of water, India’s share from the three rivers is 33 million acre-feet, which constitutes nearly 20 per cent. India uses nearly 93-94 per cent of its share under the Indus Waters Treaty. The rest of the water remains unutilised and flows to Pakistan. This is the water that India has decided to stop.
In other words, the government’s decision will not impact Pakistan’s share of water under the Treaty between the two nations. Gadkari indicated that the Central government is building three projects on the three rivers that are under India’s control. These dams and barrages will effectively block the flow of ‘India’s share’ of Indus water into the neighbouring nation.
The three projects include the Shahpur Kandi dam, a second Sutlej- Beas link in Punjab and the Ujh Dam in Jammu and Kashmir. After the Uri attack, it was decided to fast track the three water projects to arrest the unutilised water. But it is a long time before these projects are fully completed. Gadkari also indicated that this unutilised water would be diverted and used to nurture the Yamuna. “Once this happens, Yamuna will have more water,” he reasoned.
Is all this possible? Experts say building dams and barrages for storing water in lakes is technically possible but such structures cannot be built overnight. It is not as if India can press a button and stop the waters. Also, all this is easier said than done. The Indus Water treat is an international treaty guaranteed by the World Bank.
Also, Pakistan must agree to the change in parameters, feel some experts. Otherwise, they can go to the International Court of Justice. This is not the first time that Gadkari has spoken about construction of projects on these rivers, or blocking unutilised water from flowing into Pakistan. In January this year, he had made a similar assertion
DOUBLE EDGED SWORD
The international law on the subject establishes two important principles for all river basins: one, that the first right over the water of the rivers is that of the people living in the basin, and the second that the shared waters could neither be stopped nor diverted without the consent of the other riparian state.
So, India as an upper riparian cannot stop or divert waters of the rivers to the detriment of the people of Pakistan, without the prior and explicit approval of the neighbouring country. Interestingly, India has upper riparian status vis-à-vis Pakistan and Bangladesh.
On the other hand, it has lower riparian status vis-à-vis Nepal and China. With this dual status as a lower and upper riparian country, India is in a delicate position in terms of developing balanced and viable legal and technical arguments to justify its need for augmenting water usage.