Will divert water flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal: Amit Shah on Indus Waters Treaty
Union Home Minister Amit Shah while speaking on
Indus Waters Treaty
has said that India will be diverting the flow of water from Pakistan to Rajasthan through a canal.
"We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably," Shah said in an exclusive interview with Times of India.
India put into "abeyance" its participation in the 1960 treaty, which governs the usage of the Indus river system, after 26 civilians in Kashmir's Pahalgam were killed. The treaty had guaranteed water access for 80% of Pakistan's farms through three rivers originating in India.
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India starts working on canal
India has started working towards a larger inter-basin water transfer plan to fully utilise its share of Indus river waters. According to a report by The Times of India, a feasibility study is underway for a 113-km canal that would divert surplus flows from Jammu & Kashmir to Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. This canal will link the Chenab with the Ravi-Beas-Sutlej system.
The project aims to optimise India's share under the Indus Waters Treaty by ensuring better use of both eastern (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) and western (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) rivers, curbing excess flows into Pakistan.
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Sources told ToI that the proposed canal network will tie into 13 existing canal structures across J&K, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, eventually feeding into the Indira Gandhi canal system. To facilitate this, the Centre is also considering doubling the length of the Ranbir canal from 60 km to 120 km, and fully utilising the Pratap canal, based on feasibility assessments. The Ujh multipurpose project in Kathua district—pending for years—is also being revived. A second Ravi-Beas link below Ujh, planned earlier to stop excess Ravi water from entering Pakistan, will now be part of the larger canal initiative. It would involve a barrage and tunnel to transfer water to the Beas basin. The Ujh is a tributary of the Ravi. These initiatives add to ongoing short-term measures such as desilting reservoirs at Baglihar and Salal hydro projects on the Chenab.
India is also speeding up work on several hydroelectric plants — Pakal Dul (1,000 MW), Ratle (850 MW), Kiru (624 MW), and Kwar (540 MW) — to better utilise its Indus system share, ToI reported.
Recently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reaffirmed Pakistan's willingness to talk with India on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, the Indus Water Treaty, trade and counter-terrorism. However, India has made it clear that it will only have a dialogue with Pakistan on the return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the issue of terrorism.
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