Latest news with #IWT
New Indian Express
12 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Indus Waters Treaty termination will benefit J&K, have far-reaching impact on Pakistan: LG Manoj Sinha
SRINAGAR: After the United States designated the militant outfit The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha made a strong statement on Saturday. TRF was behind the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. He said there are still a few elements in the region who "speak the language of TRF." He also asserted that terminating the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is a befitting response to Pakistan and would have far-reaching consequences, as the country heavily depends on the Indus river system. 'India's water will now flow within India and remain in India. With the termination of IWT, we now have full control over the Jhelum and Chenab rivers,' LG Sinha said at a function in Jammu. He also said that the termination of IWT would benefit J&K immensely, which will be able to harness its real hydro power potential. 'The barren areas of Jammu can be irrigated and there will be new momentum in the development of infrastructure in J&K.' India suspended IWT with Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 tourists and a local pony wala were killed. "India will now create infrastructure, power plants and diversion to new areas with proper infrastructure to use the water and it will enable construction of new reservoirs," he added.
The Hindu
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
India's water will now flow only for its people, asserts J&K L-G on Indus Waters Treaty's abeyance
Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday (July 19, 2025) said India's waters will flow for its people and stop in the country only, while referring to the now-in-abeyance Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). 'India's water will now flow for India, stop in India, and serve the people of India. India will have full control over the Jhelum and Chenab rivers,' the L-G said. He made these remarks while releasing author Sant Kumar Sharma's book Indus Waters Treaty: Mirroring the Facts. Paying homage to 26 civilians killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 this year, Mr. Sinha said, 'We will never forget April 22 when Pakistan-born and trained terrorists killed our innocent civilians. But April 23 is equally an important date when Prime Minister Narendra Modi put in abeyance the IWT. Pakistan had never dreamt that before launching a military operation, India would act in a way that will rattle Pakistan,' Mr. Sinha said. 'Pakistan will face consequences' He said it was for the first time since Pakistan as an aggressor fought three wars with India in 1965, 1971 and 1999 that the treaty signed before these wars was abandoned. 'For decades, Indian water was irrigating the land of terrorist Pakistan and feeding its people. After the Pahalgam terror attack, it was made clear that water and blood, terror and talks and terror and trade will not go together,' the L-G said. He said the country's move on the IWT will make the future generations of Pakistan face the consequences. The IWT supported 16 million hectares of farmland and 80% of irrigation in Pakistan. 'Pakistan will face serious economic challenges now,' he added. Mr. Sinha said the decision will also start a new phase of infrastructure and economic growth in Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier in the day, Mr. Sinha, in a separate function in Jammu, said every citizen of J&K has the onerous responsibility to build a terror-free and drug-free UT. He said revival of Vedic knowledge and its integration into the school curriculum was crucial to offer the young generation great classics of world literature, values and ideals of our ancient civilisation and also a treasure of knowledge in science, arts, humanities and mathematics. The L-G was speaking at the two-day Mahasammelan organised by Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Jammu and Kashmir to commemorate the 200th birth anniversary of Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati and the 150th anniversary of the founding of Arya Samaj. Paying tributes to the Army, J&K Police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel for making the supreme sacrifice for J&K's peace and progress, Mr. Sinha said: 'There are few elements who speak the language of TRF (The Resistance Front). Police administration and security forces are committed to ensure peace and action against such elements as per the law.'
Indian Express
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Termination of IWT is befitting response to Pakistan, will ensure immense benefit to J&K: LG Sinha
Asserting that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was a 'historic mistake', Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said its termination is a befitting response to Pakistan and will ensure immense benefit to Jammu and Kashmir, which will be able to harness its real hydro power potential. 'India has made it clear that blood and water cannot flow together, terror and talks cannot go together and terror and trade cannot happen together,' the lieutenant governor said. 'Termination of the IWT is a befitting response to Pakistan and it will have far-reaching consequences since it is dependent on the Indus River system,' he added. Releasing a monograph 'Indus Water Treaty-Mirroring the Facts' by Sant Kumar Sharma here, the lieutenant governor (LG) congratulated the author on his remarkable work to bring out various historical aspects of this treaty. Addressing the function, Sinha said the thoughtful and timely monograph offers interesting insights on the IWT with Pakistan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decisive move to terminate the treaty post Pakistan-sponsored Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that left 26 persons dead. The lieutenant governor said the historic step has marked a new beginning and reiterated the Government of India's commitment to utilize the nation's water exclusively for the benefit of its citizens. 'India's water will now flow within India and remain in India. With the termination of the IWT, we now have full control over the Jhelum and Chenab rivers,' said Sinha, adding its termination will ensure immense benefit to Jammu and Kashmir, which will be able to harness its real hydro power potential. The barren areas of Jammu can be irrigated and there will be new momentum in the development of infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, he said. The lieutenant governor said India will now create infrastructure, power plants and diversion to new areas with proper infrastructure to use the water and it will enable construction of new reservoirs. Citing a debate in Parliament in November 1960 and the statements of prominent leaders in the House, he said that the IWT was a 'historical mistake, unfair, one-sided' and hampered infrastructure development in Jammu and Kashmir and restricted growth of development projects. Sinha also paid tribute to the civilians, who were martyred in the Pahalgam terror attack and reiterated his resolve to honour and deliver justice to the terror victims of Jammu and Kashmir. 'No terror victim families will be left behind. It is being ensured that family members, who have been waiting for justice for decades, will receive jobs, financial assistance and necessary handholding. Their culprits will not be spared,' the lieutenant governor said. 'The properties of terror victims which were encroached by the terrorists or terror sympathisers will be vacated soon,' he added.
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
India ramps up plan to tap potential of Indus basin rivers
NEW DELHI : New Delhi: The Union water ministry is considering roping in state-run hydroelectric power generators NHPC Ltd and SJVN Ltd for developing dams and reservoirs connected to an ambitious river-linking project in Jammu and Kashmir, according to an official aware of the plan. The official was one of three Mint spoke to about the government's plan to link the Indus and Chenab rivers in J&K in order to extract more water from the Indus river system, now that India has suspended its participation in the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan. The 1960 water-sharing pact came under strain following this year's armed conflict between India and Pakistan. India's goal is to address Delhi's water shortage along with meeting the requirement for irrigation in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan by diverting more water from the Indus basin. This would be done by connecting the proposed Indus-Chenab link to the interconnected Ravi-Beas-Sutlej canal system, the people cited above said. Read more: J&K seeks stake, revenue share in NHPC's ₹22,700 crore Sawalkot hydro project The project would in the main rest on canals and tunnels linking the Indus with the Chenab in the first instance. This would be followed by linking the Chenab with three rivers—Ravi, Beas and Sutlej—that feed into Punjab. Punjab and Haryana are considered the bread basket of India. From there, the water would be routed to the 214-km Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal—conceived in the 1960s but still under construction—and then to the thirsty capital of Delhi. The IWT already allows India unrestricted use of waters from the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. It gives Pakistan control over the other three rivers of the Indus Basin—the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. The Indus begins in Tibet, enters India near Ladakh and then continues westward into Pakistan. By using water from the Indus, New Delhi can limit the water available to Pakistan. 'After linking the Indus and Chenab to the Ravi-Beas-Sutlej system, the plan conceives extending the linkage to the Sutlej-Yamuna Link, transferring the water to the Yamuna, which may ease water issues in the national capital," said one of the three people, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Times of India reported on 16 June that the Centre had initiated a pre-feasibility study for constructing a 113-km canal to redirect 18-24 billion cubic metres (BCM) of water from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The study would take into account the ecological, topographical, and engineering viability of the project as it passes through the Himalayan terrain. India's plan to enhance water diversion from the Indus basin also involves accelerating the construction of the multipurpose (hydropower, irrigation, drinking) project on the Ujh river—a major tributary of the Ravi—in J&K's Kathua to maximize the country's use of its share of the Ravi water. The government suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with an aim to control the water flow into Pakistan as part of its diplomatic response to the 22 April Pahalgam attack. The tall task However, it's a long road from the drawing board of ministries to the farms of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The whole project would require two canals or a large-capacity structure like the Narmada Main Canal—an over 500-km canal that forms the backbone of India's largest integrated irrigation and drinking water project, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, said the second person. Further, connecting the Ravi-Beas-Sutlej system to the under-construction Sutlej-Yamuna Link may require dredging along the Yamuna's river-bed to increase its capacity to absorb the excess water, said A.K. Singh, general manager at NTPC, Hydro Headquarters. 'These are long gestation projects. The terrain, the required land acquisition and displacement of communities, various clearances like environment, forest, wildlife, etc., and preparing a detailed project report need to be taken into account. Such a mega-plan involves regulatory gates, generating equipment, water conductor system, etc.," said Abhay Kumar Singh, president, Indian National Hydropower Association (INHA) and former chairman and managing director of NHPC. Read more: India to fast-track hydropower plans on Pakistan-bound rivers after treaty suspension He said it would take a minimum of 6-to-10 years to just finish planning, that too when all stakeholders are on the same page. Besides, political commitment is crucial. Cost is another factor: a project of this scale would require an investment of ₹2-3 trillion. 'River-linking projects are highly capital-intensive. The Centre will have to come up with a budget allocation. State-run companies on their own may not be able to put in the capex required," said an official with a hydro-power company on the condition of anonymity. Queries sent to the Union ministries of Jal Shakti and power, NHPC and SJVN remained unanswered till press time. Another problem is the status of the SYL, which has been stuck for decades. First conceptualized in 1966, the construction of the 214-km SYL was started in 1982 and stalled in 1990 following the killing of project engineers and some workers by militants, amid protests against the project in Punjab. Work has been stuck amid a long-standing dispute between Punjab and Haryana over the quantum of of water to be shared. The Supreme Court in 2020 asked both states to negotiate and move ahead with the construction. Talks have been underway without much movement on the ground. The last meeting was held on 9 July among the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana and the union minister for Jal Shakti C.R. Patil in the national capital. It remained inconclusive. Punjab water resources minister Barinder Kumar Goyal told Mint that Indus Water Treaty suspension must be duly utilized to fulfil the water needs of his state. "If the centre agrees to share the Chenab water adequately with Punjab and fulfil our water needs, then depending upon the feasibility report we would be ready to share Chenab water with other states such as Haryana – be it through canal or other modes." The water diplomacy Addressing members of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh in June, Union home minister Amit Shah said the Indus river water will be taken to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, and that irrigation facilities would benefit large areas, leaving Pakistan water-starved. Recently, the chief minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Singh Mann, also said the decision to keep the IWT in abeyance opens up the possibility of greater utilization of water from the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab within India. Mann said waters of the western rivers should be allocated to Punjab on a priority and that new storage dams should be built upstream of the Bhakra and Pong dams. The government has already set a plan in motion to fast-track under-construction hydroelectric power projects in J&K and develop new projects with large storage capacities and low-level sluice gates on the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers, Mint reported on 15 July. Read more: Mint Explainer: India puts Indus Waters Treaty on ice—what's at stake for both sides The Indus basin has the highest hydropower generation capacity in the country—32GW—of which only 15GW is operational. "The proposed move is a win-win situation for Punjab and Haryana. However, the government needs to carry out the feasibility study first to ascertain whether the project is geographically and economically viable as it may include like laying pipes, tunneling, building canal," said Jaskaran Singh Waraich, Chairperson, Department of Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. 'The proposed linking of the Indus and Chenab with the Satluj-Yamuna Link is very much doable. However, the project will take a long time to be completed as it involves tunnelling, building dams, and canals. Also, there would be huge costs involved," said Iftikhar A. Drabu, a Srinagar-based civil engineer who has worked on hydropower projects, including Uri, KishanGanga, and Dulhasti.
India.com
2 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
India's development of several projects in Kashmir gives shock to Pakistan as..., suspension of Indus Waters Treaty...
New Delhi: After the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, India has taken strict action against Pakistan and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) that has been going on since 1960 which has brought Pakistan to its knees. In this fight over water, India has made it clear that it will no longer share information related to the water level of rivers etc. with Pakistan. What is India's plan for Jammu and Kashmir? Since the Indus Waters Treaty has been suspended, Pakistan has been continuously demanding the restoration of this treaty, but India's stand is clear, 'blood and water cannot flow together'. And India has further strengthened its stance and started working on accelerating the pace of hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir while Pakistan is currently battling floods. What is India's progress on hydropower projects? India has started working on increasing the pace of hydropower projects already underway in Jammu and Kashmir. Officials say that the government is close to approving the design of two more projects in Jammu and Kashmir. This makes it clear that India is not ready to show any leniency in this matter, according to a report of Hindustan Times. Work is being done to speed up several projects being built on Chenab river. This includes 1000 MW hydropower project at Pakal Dul, 624 MW at Kiru, 540 MW at Kwar and 850 MW hydropower project being built at Ratle. When will the projects be completed? The dates of these projects being built on the Chenab river have been changed. The completion dates of all these were changed earlier. Quoting an official, Hindustan Times said that now these projects will be completed between May 2026 and July 2028. The Ratle Power Project will be completed first. It will start by May 2026. This was confirmed by an official associated with this project. It is a joint venture of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited and Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. What is Indus Waters Treaty? Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is based on the distribution of water of six rivers of Indus water system. In this, water has been divided between India and Pakistan in the ratio of 80:20. In this treaty, Pakistan will get the water of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab which are called western rivers. Whereas the water of eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej will come in India's share. Pakistan has raised objection on the design of four projects, especially regarding Ratle which is a run-on-river project being built on Jhelum. It is being prepared in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. However, India is not paying any heed to them.
