India decides to stop water to Pakistan

Nitin Gadkari

Continuing its tough stance in the wake of Pulwama terror attack, India on Thursday decided to stop its share of water from the three eastern rivers -- Beas, Ravi and Sutlej -- to Pakistan.

"Under the leadership of (Prime Minister Narendra Modi), our government has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab," Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a tweet.

In another tweet, he said the construction of a dam had started at Shahpur-Kandi on Ravi river. Moreover, the Ujh project will store India's share of water for use in Jammu and Kashmir and the balance water will flow from the second Ravi-Beas Link to provide water to other basin states.

He said all the above projects were declared as the National projects.

India's decision comes on top of other actions like withdrawing Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan and slapping a 200 per cent duty on all imports from Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers and which was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

India has also sent enough messages to Pakistan that it will not be business as usual and that the February 14 terror attack would be avenged.

Meanwhile, speaking at a public meeting in Baghpat, Gadkari said that after partition India got three rivers but their water was flowing to Pakistan.

"... Water will be diverted to the Yamuna. It means, there will be more water in the Yamuna," he said.

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, control over the water flowing in three "eastern" rivers of India - the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej with the mean flow of 33 million acre-feet (MAF) - was given to India.

While control over the water flowing in three "western" rivers of India - the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum with the mean flow of 80 MAF - was given to Pakistan.

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