Nitin Gadkari Says India Will Stop Its Share Of Water Flowing To Pakistan

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, India shares the waters of the Beas and Sutlej rivers with Pakistan

New Delhi: India has decided to fully utilise its share of unused water from rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej that has been flowing into Pakistan, Union minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted on Thursday, a week after a suicide bomber of Jaish-e Mohammad drove an explosive-filled car into a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, killing 40 soldiers. The government's decision will not impact Pakistan's share of water under the Indus Water Treaty between the two nations. Officials said the plan was in place since 2016, and the three dam projects, announced then, have recently been inaugurated.

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In a series of tweets, Union water minister Nitin Gadkari said: "Our Govt. has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab".
A dam is being built on the Ravi river at Shahpur-Kandi. "Moreover, UJH project will store our share of water for use in J&K and the balance water will flow from 2nd Ravi-BEAS Link to provide water to other basin states," a second tweet from the minister read.
"He (Nitin Gadkari) is talking about diverting India's share of Indus water, which was going to Pakistan - and he has always been saying this as you all know," news agency ANI quoted Neeta Prasad, a senior official from the Water Resource ministry as saying.
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 from Jhelum, Chenab and Indus.
Of the total 168 million acre-feet, India's share of water 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.
After the attack at the CRPF camp at Uri in 2016 by Pakistani terrorists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, "Blood and water cannot flow simultaneously".
The government then announced the suspension of talks of the Indus Water Commission.
A decision was also taken to fast-track dam construction to block the unutilised water through three projects -- at Shahpur-Kandi and a second Sutlej-Beas link in Punjab and the Ujh dam in Jammu and Kashmir. The projects, announced in 2016, have recently been inaugurated.
The Indus Water Commission talks, however, started again a few months after the Uri attack. In the interval, the army had conducted surgical strikes on terror bases across the Line of Control.
After the terror strike of February 14 in Pulwama, New Delhi has taken steps to isolate Pakistan in the international community. It has also scrapped the Most Favoured Nation status granted to Pakistan and imposed a 200 per cent customs duty on its goods.