India moves ahead with ‘water terrorism’ in attempt to ‘get even’ with Pakistan

PakistanToday

7 years ago

NEW DELHI: The Government of India has decided to go ahead with its controversial decision to start a project that aims to store water from a disputed river in Kathua district of India Occupied Kashmir (IOK), according to Times of India.

Pakistan has opposed the Indian project and resorting to this kind of ‘water terrorism’ as a tactic to harm the country.

In a blatant disregard of the legitimate rights enjoyed by Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the Central Water Commission (CWC) in India has finalised a detailed report on the project titled ‘Ujh’, according to sources.

The project, which scheduled to start in Kathua district, will store around 0.65 million acre-feet (MAF) of water from Ujh (a tributary of Ravi) to irrigate 30,000 hectares and produce over 200 MW of power.

The Modi government decided to take a relook at the implementation of the Indus treaty after the Indian PM decided to do so following the attack on an Indian army camp at Uri in 2016, which was blamed on Pakistan.

All of these blames have been denied by the Pakistan government.

It took the CWC in India 16 years to complete the process of compiling a detailed project report on the matter after getting a formal nod to do so in 2001, following a political prompt from the current government.

The task force was set up after India decided it will explore all options for utilising ‘maximum waters’ of the Indus system that it was legally granted under the treaty.