Locals guide their buffaloes through a flooded area following monsoon rains and rising waters in the Chenab River on the outskirts of Multan. Photo: REUTERS
LAHORE/ISLAMABAD:
Without giving any hint to Pakistan, India released water into the Chenab River, the flow of which reached 58,300 cusecs on Monday. Officials say India deliberately emptied its dams to damage Pakistan’s wheat crop.
They claimed that India would now fill its dams, which could reduce the flow of the Chenab to zero – a move described as “water terrorism” aimed at harming wheat production.
In May this year, India unilaterally suspended the Indus-Water Treaty (IWT), a 1960 water-sharing agreement, brokered by the World Bank, allocating three eastern rivers to India and three western rivers to Pakistan.
The three eastern rivers, which have a total average annual flow of 33 million acres, are the Beas River, the Ravi River and the Sutlej River.
The three western rivers, which have a total average annual flow of 135 million acres, are the Indus, the Chenab River and the Jhelum River.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s annual per capita water availability has declined due to rapid population growth, according to a report presented to the National Assembly by the Ministry of Water Resources on Monday.
Pakistan’s population increased by 40 million people between 2017 and 2023, resulting in a decrease of 154 cubic meters of water per capita.
By 2030, Pakistan’s population is expected to reach 288 million, and per capita water availability is expected to fall to 795 cubic meters per year due to continued population growth.
Annual per capita water availability has fallen to 679 cubic meters in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; 760 cubic meters in Punjab; 1,169 cubic meters in Sindh and 928 cubic meters in Balochistan.
