India halts Chenab River water flow at Baglihar Dam

ISLAMABAD: India has started to implement its threat of diverting the flow of river water from Pakistan in downstream, by disrupting the water stream of Chenab River from Baglihar dam.

The water flow in Chenab at Maralla Headworks goes down to 5,400 cusecs, sources said. The water flow of the river was around 40,000 cusecs at the point, last week, sources added.

Sources said that the neighboring country has started filling Baglihar dam reservoir with the water from Chenab River.

Punjab’s irrigation department sources said that the water level in Chenab is expected to further drop. The Indian measures likely to curtail the river water flow to Pakistan by 90 percent, an Indian publication said in a report.

India has also been engaged in preparations to reduce the water flow of Jhelum River from the Kishenganga hydel power project, India’s Hindustan Times has reported.

Reuters has reported that India has begun work to boost reservoir holding capacity at two hydroelectric projects in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, sources with knowledge of the matter told, after fresh tension with Pakistan led it to suspend a water-sharing pact.

The work represents the step by India to operate outside agreements covered by the Indus Waters Treaty, unbroken since 1960 despite three wars and several other conflicts between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Islamabad has threatened international legal action over the suspension, warning, “Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan … will be considered as an act of war”.