SRINAGAR, India: India has begun work to boost reservoir holding capacity at two hydroelectric projects in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, after fresh tensions with Pakistan led it to suspend a water-sharing pact.
The work represents the first tangible step by India to operate outside agreements covered by the Indus Waters Treaty, unbroken since 1960 despite three wars and several other conflicts between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Last month, New Delhi suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty between the nuclear-armed rivals that ensures supply to 80 per cent of Pakistani farms after an attack in Kashmir killed 26, and it identified two of the three assailants as Pakistani.
Islamabad has threatened international legal action over the suspension and denied any role in the attack, warning, “Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan … will be considered as an act of war”.
A “reservoir flushing” process to remove sediment began on Thursday (May 1), carried out by India’s biggest hydropower company, state-run NHPC, and authorities in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the three sources said.
The work may not immediately threaten supply to Pakistan, which depends on rivers flowing through India for much of its irrigation and hydropower generation, but it could eventually be affected if other projects launch similar efforts.
There are more than half a dozen such projects in the region.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/india-hydro-projects-water-treaty-pakistan-5108991
