Under the treaty, reservoir filling after the flushing has to be done in August—peak monsoon period—but with the pact in abeyance, it could be done anytime.Doing it when sowing season begins in Pakistan could be detrimental especially when a large part of Punjab in Pakistan depends on the Indus and its tributaries for irrigation.According to the treaty, there are design restrictions on building structures like dams on Indus and its tributaries.In the past, Pakistan has raised objections over the designs but in future it will not be obligatory to take the concerns onboard.In the past almost every project has been objected to by Pakistan. Notable are Salal, Baglihar, Uri, Chutak, Nimoo Bazgo, Kishenganga, Pakal Dul, Miyar, Lower Kalnai and Ratle.After the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, the government cleared eight more hydropower projects in Ladakh.The objections may no longer be applicable for the new projects. There are also operational restrictions on how reservoirs are to be filled and operated. With the treaty in abeyance, these are no longer applicable.Saxena said India can stop sharing flood data on the rivers.This could also prove detrimental to Pakistan, especially during the monsoon when rivers swell.”India will now have no restriction on storage on Western rivers, particularly the Jhelum, and India can take a number of flood control measures to mitigate floods in the Valley,” Saxena said.The tours of Pakistan side to India, which are mandatory under the treaty, may now be stopped.At the time of Independence, the boundary line between the two newly created independent countries—Pakistan and India—was drawn right across the Indus Basin, leaving Pakistan as the lower riparian and India as the upper riparian.Two important irrigation works, one at Madhopur on Ravi River and the other at Ferozepur on Sutlej River, on which the irrigation canal supplies in Punjab (Pakistan) had been completely dependent, fell in the Indian territory.A dispute thus arose between two countries regarding the utilisation of irrigation water from existing facilities.Negotiations held under the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), culminated in the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960.According to the treaty, all the waters of the Eastern Rivers – Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi with average annual flow of around 33 Million Acre Feet (MAF) is allocated to India for unrestricted use while the waters of Western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab with average annual flow of around 135 MAF is allocated largely to Pakistan.However, India is permitted to use the waters of the Western Rivers for domestic use, non-consumptive use, agricultural and generation of hydro-electric power.The right to generate hydroelectricity from Western rivers is unrestricted subject to the conditions for design and operation of the Treaty. India can also create storages upto 3.6 MAF on Western rivers, the pact states.(With inputs from PTI)
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