India cannot block Indus River water: IRSA chief

ISLAMABAD: Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Chairman Rao Irshad Ali Khan on Wednesday said presently India does not have the capacity to block and manage River Indus water flowing into Pakistan.

Rivers do not carry a small quantity of water. Big dams are needed to consume the river water, which India does not have so it is not in a position to immediately block substantial quantity of Indus water flowing into Pakistan, he told APP, while commenting on the Indian threats to revoke the 56-year old Indus Water Treaty.

Currently, India could only stop the water for just two to three days by diverting the River Indus flow to its hydel dams, which have the capacity to store 5,000 to 10,000 acres feet of water.

But before diverting the water towards its hydel reservoirs, India would have to release the already stored thousands of acres feet water, he said, adding that it could play a trick on Rivers Chenab and Jhelum by curtailing 5,000 acres feet water.

According to the treaty, Pakistan has unrestricted access to three rivers, including Jhelum, Chenab and the Indus. For its part, India was allocated unrestricted access to three eastern rivers, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas.

Khan said Pakistan and India are bound to the Indus Water Treaty, which is successfully continuing for the last 56 years under the World Bank guarantee. As per the document, no signatory can violate any clause of the treaty unilaterally.

Commenting on the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, the IRSA chairman said there exists a dispute resolution clause in the treaty, adding that first a dispute was taken to the commissioners, and if not resolved, the two governments hire services of neutral experts and then to the international court of arbitration.

He said the two countries had several times approached the international court of arbitration to get relief. Khan dispelled the impression, saying that so far India neither blocked Pakistan’s water nor it released additional water, which could cause any flash floods in Pakistani areas.

Addition of rainwater in rivers do not mean that India has released any additional water in rivers flowing into Pakistan, he said. Meanwhile, experts are of the view that China can block River Indus and River Brahmaputra, as they both originate from there.

Beijing is not under any obligation to let rivers flow, as the country has not signed any international water sharing agreement. If China came in Pakistan’s support and diverted the flow of River Indus, India could lose 36 percent of the river water.

Additionally, China also has the option of stopping the flow of River Brahmaputra into India. The Brahmaputra feeds millions in India and Bangladesh. China is building 11 mega dams on it and is in a position to hurt India’s interests, he said.

Blocking flow of Indus would also cause floods in the occupied Kashmir and Punjab in India. The IRSA chairman said violating an international treaty backed by the World Bank would invite condemnation from across the globe, putting India under immense pressure.