What does India’s dam move mean for the Indus Water Treaty?

To respond to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India launched Operation Sindoor on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. During this operation, Indian military forces targeted 9 locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Along with military action, India is also making political and strategic moves to pressure Pakistan. One major step is suspending the Indus Water Treaty.

On Monday, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) closed the gates of the Baglihar and Salal dams on the Chenab River. This action stopped the flow of water from India to Pakistan downstream. Chenab is a key tributary of the Indus River, and this stoppage has created a serious issue for agriculture in Pakistan during the Kharif season.

The Indian Prime Minister addressed this in a program in Delhi on Tuesday and said,
“Water that is India's right will flow in India's favor.”

So it’s important to understand how the Chenab River’s water is shared between the two countries. This article explains the water politics behind the current move.

Flow of the Chenab River

Chenab is also known as Chandrabhaga. This name comes from the two streams, Chandra and Bhaga, that join to form it. The river flows about 700 km in Pakistan and about 504 km in India.

The Chandra and Bhaga rivers start from the southwest and northwest sides of the Baralacha Pass in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti Valley. Chenab then crosses Pangi Valley in Himachal and enters the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. It flows through Akhnoor and then enters Pakistan’s Punjab province at Sialkot.

In simple terms, India is upstream and Pakistan is downstream. This gives India control over the water flow. There are 15 large dams in Jammu and Kashmir, and 4 of them are built on the Chenab River. These include Salal (a rockfill dam), Aal (a concrete dam), Baglihar, and Dull.

Before talking more about these dams, let’s look at how water is divided between the two countries.

Indus Water Treaty and Chenab

India and Pakistan signed the Indus Water Treaty in September 1960 after nearly 10 years of negotiations. The World Bank helped mediate the deal. The treaty divided the water of the Indus and its five tributaries — Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej.

According to the treaty, Pakistan received the water from the three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. India got the water from the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej.

India is allowed to use water from the western rivers for agriculture, domestic needs, and run-of-the-river hydro projects. But India cannot store this water.

The treaty allows India to draw:

• 1000 cusecs of water from 15 April to 14 October, and

• 350 cusecs from 15 October to 14 April for the Ranveer Canal

• 400 cusecs from 15 April to 14 October, and

• 100 cusecs from 15 October to 14 April for the Pratap Canal

Salal and Baglihar Dams

Baglihar Dam is in Ramban district. It stands 143 meters tall and can hold 428 million cubic meters of water. The government commissioned it in 2009, and the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation operates it. Baglihar Stage 1 can generate up to 450 MW of electricity.

The Salal project has a capacity of 690 MW. It started working in phases between 1987 and 1995. Salal Dam is 81.38 meters high, with a total storage of 284 million cubic meters and live storage of 271 million cubic meters. NHPC Limited operates this dam.

India closed the gates of Salal and Baglihar on Sunday. Both are hydropower dams. Usually, India clears silt and debris from these dams in August. This time, India did it early due to the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty after the Pahalgam attack.

These dams are not designed to store large amounts of water, which is a limitation under the treaty.

According to the Indus River System Authority in Pakistan, water flow has dropped sharply. Between April 23 and May 5, the water level in the Marala Dam reservoir in Pakistan fell by 61 percent.

Outflow from India has dropped by 83 percent, meaning India has released much less water than usual.

When the river flow is moderate, the Salal and Baglihar reservoirs can store water for only about 4 days. During low flow periods, they can hold water for up to 16 days.

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