Latest news with #waterdispute
Bloomberg
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
India Is Disrupting Indus Water Flows, Pakistan Minister Says
Pakistan's climate minister accused India of using dams to disrupt the flow of the Indus River system, as both countries seek international support amid a fragile ceasefire agreement. India is manipulating the flow of rivers that run into Pakistan by 'holding and releasing, holding and then flooding,' Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Musadik Malik said Monday in an interview in London. While India lacks the storage capacity to completely stop the water, Malik noted that 'when the water was needed for crop sowing, it was not available' over the past month.
E&E News
03-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Southern California water agencies settle 15-year legal war
Southern California's two largest water agencies announced Monday that they have settled a 15-year legal dispute over the price of water transferred between them. What happened: Under the settlement agreement, the San Diego County Water Authority will pay the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California a fixed charge per ton of water delivered instead of one tied to Met's fluctuating rates. Why this matters: The agreement ends an acrimonious chapter in Southern California's water wars during which San Diego and Los Angeles power players fought in regional water agency boardrooms as well as the courtroom. Advertisement It also frees the San Diego County Water Authority — which is currently facing an existential threat because of lower-than-expected water sales — to cut deals with other water agencies to offload some of its unneeded water. San Diego has spent heavily in the past two decades on both importing and desalinating water.
Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The water dispute that goes to the heart of the tensions between India and Pakistan
SIR – The real bone of contention between India and Pakistan is not Kashmir per se (report, May 9), but its water. If Kashmir did not have water, it would not have been a problem. It is sad that when Cyril Radcliffe, the man who drew the India-Pakistan boundary in August 1947, approached Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah with his Indus Waters proposal, he was snubbed by both. Radcliffe wanted both leaders to run the river-canal system as a joint Indo-Pakistan venture. However, Jinnah told him that he would 'rather have Pakistan deserts than fertile fields watered by courtesy of Hindus', while Nehru curtly informed him that what India did with its rivers was India's affair. The issue of shared waters between the two neighbours has remained contentious ever since. Simren Kaur Jalandhar City, Punjab, India SIR – Unless the long-standing Kashmir dispute is resolved there will be no lasting peace or friendship between India and Pakistan. Britain should be part of the dialogue because the origin of the disagreement goes back to the messy and unplanned borders that were the result of partition in 1947. The plebiscite recommended by the United Nations never took place. It should be held now. Hyder Ali Pirwany Okehampton, Devon SIR – Rising tensions and the prospect of war between India and Pakistan highlight the indispensable nature of the British Indian Ocean Territory, which gives Britain a strategic presence in a region of global interest. In light of the changing situation, will the Government finally suspend the giveaway of the Chagos Islands? Robert Frazer Salford, Lancashire SIR – The escalation of the dispute between India and Pakistan shows the sheer stupidity of allowing unstable regimes to have nuclear weapons. We have the same situation with North Korea, and potentially Iran. Weak governments in the West have let this happen and we are now seeing the potential for nuclear Armageddon in these countries. We must never permit Iran to gain access to nuclear weapons, or we could see mass destruction in the Middle East, with dire consequences for oil and gas supplies. Stan Kirby West Malling, Kent SIR – The Australian journalist Murray Sayle, who covered the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, told of a press briefing given by the Indian Air Force, which reported that there had been intense activity, but that no planes had been shot down on either side. Afterwards, he asked the briefing officer why so much effort had achieved no result. 'My dear fellow, you can't shoot down your friends,' came the reply. 'We were all at RAF Cranwell together.' John Carter Shortlands, Kent
Free Malaysia Today
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow
The Chenab is one of three rivers placed under Pakistan's control according to the Indus Waters Treaty. (AP pic) LAHORE : Pakistan today accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan's control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty. This major river originates in India but was allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, signed by the two nuclear powers. India suspended the treaty following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people. Islamabad warned that tampering with its rivers would be considered 'an act of war'. 'We have witnessed changes in the river (Chenab) which are not natural at all,' Kazim Pirzada, irrigation minister for Punjab province, told AFP. Punjab, bordering India and home to nearly half of Pakistan's 240 million citizens, is the country's agricultural heartland, and 'the majority impact will be felt in areas which have fewer alternate water routes', Pirzada warned. 'One day the river had normal inflow and the next day it was greatly reduced,' Pirzada added. In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, large quantities of water from India were reportedly released on April 26, according to the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former Pakistani climate change minister. 'This is being done so that we don't get to utilise the water,' Pirzada added. The gates of the sluice spillways on the Baglihar dam in Indian-administered Kashmir which lies upstream of Pakistani Punjab 'have been lowered to restrict water flow… as a short-term punitive action', a senior Indian official has told The Indian Express. The Indus Waters Treaty permits India to use shared rivers for dams or irrigation but prohibits diverting watercourses or altering downstream volumes. Indian authorities have not commented yet but Kushvinder Vohra, former head of India's central water commission, told The Times of India: 'Since the treaty is on pause… we may do flushing on any project without any obligation'. Experts said the water cannot be stopped in the longer term, and that India can only regulate timings of when it releases flows. However, the Jinnah Institute warned: 'Even small changes in the timing of water releases can disrupt sowing calendars (and) reduce crop yields'.
Al Arabiya
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow as tensions rise
Pakistan on Tuesday accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan's control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty. This major river originates in India but was allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, signed by the two nuclear powers. India suspended the treaty following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people. Islamabad warned that tampering with its rivers would be considered 'an act of war'. 'We have witnessed changes in the river (Chenab) which are not natural at all,' Kazim Pirzada, irrigation minister for Punjab province, told AFP. Punjab, bordering India and home to nearly half of Pakistan's 240 million citizens, is the country's agricultural heartland, and 'the majority impact will be felt in areas which have fewer alternate water routes,' Pirzada warned. 'One day the river had normal inflow and the next day it was greatly reduced,' Pirzada added. In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, large quantities of water from India were reportedly released on April 26, according to the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former Pakistani climate change minister. 'This is being done so that we don't get to utilise the water,' Pirzada added. The gates of the sluice spillways on the Baglihar dam in Indian-administered Kashmir which lies upstream of Pakistani Punjab 'have been lowered to restrict water flow ... as a short-term punitive action', a senior Indian official has told The Indian Express. The Indus Waters Treaty permits India to use shared rivers for dams or irrigation but prohibits diverting watercourses or altering downstream volumes. Indian authorities have not commented yet but Kushvinder Vohra, former head of India's Central Water Commission, told The Times of India: 'Since the treaty is on pause... we may do flushing on any project without any obligation'. Experts said the water cannot be stopped in the longer term, and that India can only regulate timings of when it releases flows. However, the Jinnah Institute warned: 'Even small changes in the timing of water releases can disrupt sowing calendars (and) reduce crop yields'.
