Pakistan-bound Chenab's flows regulated, river 'almost dry'

SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Authorities have since Sunday restricted flows through Jammu’s Baglihar and Salal hydroelectric dams on the Chenab that runs on to Pakistan, causing such an unprecedented drop in water levels that residents in downstream areas were able to walk across the river for the first time in recent memory.

The actions demonstrate India’s ability to regulate timing of water releases and comes after the Centre’s decision to suspend Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. Under IWT, India would have had to inform Pakistan before regulating Chenab’s waters.

Sources said the authorities had closed all five main gates of Baglihar Dam and those of Salal Dam downstream. Water released from Baglihar typically flows to Salal before the Chenab rolls into Pakistan, where it serves as a critical lifeline for its Punjab province. By closing both dams, authorities effectively stopped the river’s flow.

Officials downplayed the moves, saying the dams’ gates were first opened to flush out silt and mud and then closed under a “continuous process”.

In Jammu’s Akhnoor, dozens walked across the river, something they said they had never experienced before. Children collected coins from the bed as water levels dropped to 1.5-2ft from 25-30ft. “For the first time in my life today, I was able to walk across half the Chenab. It’s unbelievable,” an Akhnoor resident said on Monday.

Many welcomed PM Narendra Modi’s decision to put IWT on hold. “We do not want even a single drop of water to be supplied to Pakistan. We stand with Indian Army and PM Modi,” said Akhnoor’s Vinay Gupta. Fellow resident Kamal Langer echoed the sentiment: “Our govt is giving Pakistan a befitting reply in a lot of ways.”

According to Luv Puri, former UN counter-terrorism official and a Kashmir expert, the implications of placing IWT in abeyance are becoming increasingly evident. “It shows this was preceded by significant preparation,” Puri said.

IWT gives India exclusive rights to use waters of “Eastern Rivers” -- Sutlej, Beas and Ravi -- and their tributaries before they enter Pakistan, while the latter secured rights over the waters of the “Western Rivers” -- Chenab, Jhelum and Indus.

“Earlier analyses suggesting India lacked the infrastructure to exert pressure through water management have proven inaccurate. The impact of suspending IWT reveals that India has, in fact, developed the infrastructure needed to leverage water strategically,” Puri said.

Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister and president of J&K’s governing National Conference (NC), had on Saturday reiterated his party’s opposition to IWT. He argued that the 1960 treaty had harmed J&K’s interests and called for diverting Chenab’s waters to Jammu and harnessing Jhelum’s waters to generate power in Kashmir. NC has long claimed that the rights over the region’s rivers were given to Pakistan under IWT without consulting J&K. “We have been saying that this treaty has to be reviewed,” Abdullah said.