India moves to use Indus water against Pak terror.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 1960 Indus Water Treaty allows India to construct storage capacities on the western rivers up to 3.6 million acre feet

• Decision to maximise water use was taken after four Pakistan-backed militants attacked the Indian Army base at Uri in Sep 2016

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated two hydroelectric projects in Jammu & Kashmir, indicating his government's political will to respond to Pakistan's use of terrorism against India with every option at its command, including using in full India's share of water from western tributaries of the Indus, as possible leverage points.

The inauguration of the 330-MW Kishanganga hydel station in Bandipore and laying of the foundation of the 1,000-MW Pakul Dul project in Kishtwar express the government's intent to follow through PM's decision to review water use within the ambit of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan.

The decision to maximise water use was taken after four Pakistan-backed militants attacked the Indian Army base at Uri in Jammu, killing 18 soldiers on September 18, 2016. "Blood and water cannot flow together", Modi had told a meeting of government officials on the Indus treaty 11 days later. The message to Pakistan was clear: stop backing terror attacks on India or lose the liberal water flow in excess of the treaty's provisions at present.

Soon after that decision, three hydel projects on Chenab and its tributary - Sawalkote (1,856 MW), Pakal Dul (1,000 MW) and Bursar (800 MW) - were fast-tracked. Building infrastructure on Indus, Chenab, Jhelum and their tributaries is part of the Modi government's plan to utilise India's share of water from western tributaries of the Indus.

Speeding up pending hydel projects is a key component of what India can do to use as much of Indus water as it can under the water treaty, which allows New Delhi to construct storage capacities on the western rivers up to 3.6 million acre feet (MAF) for various purpose, including domestic use.

Pakistan's water supply is dwindling because of climate change, outdated farming techniques and an exploding population. A 2011 report by the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations said India could use these projects as a way to control Pakistan's supplies from the Indus, seen as its jugular vein. "The cumulative effect of these projects could give India the ability to store enough water to limit the supply to Pakistan at crucial moments in the growing season," the report said.

Most of the projects proposed on the Indus and its tributaries had been held up for at least a decade awaiting clearances. Sawalkote, which was cleared by a government-constituted environment committee in January 2017, was first given techno-economic approval in 1991. Pakal Dul was stuck in litigation, which has now been resolved. (Source: The Times of India)