Declining river flow from India brings key Pakistani dams to 'dead level' in Kharif season: Report

A steady decline in the flow of western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab – from India is forcing Pakistan to release more water than it receives, affecting its both drinking water and irrigation needs. As a result, water levels at key Pakistani dams have reached the ‘dead level’.

While such a drop is typical before the monsoon, the situation could worsen as India continues to flush and desilt its dams in Jammu & Kashmir to increase its own storage capacity, further reducing the downstream flow.

According to Pakistan’s Indus River System Authority (IRSA), the country released 11,180 cusecs more water than it received on Wednesday. The total outflow from key rivers stood at 2,52,791 cusecs, while the inflow was only 2,41,611 cusecs.

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This imbalance is likely to impact water availability in Punjab and Sindh, which rely heavily on the Indus system. On the same day, Punjab province received 1,14,600 cusecs of water – a 20 per cent decline from 1,43,600 cusecs on the same date last year, just as the kharif farming season begins.

India plans to increase water storage capacity of upcoming projects

Earlier, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Tuesday that India plans to increase water storage for upcoming hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir that are still in the early planning stage. He added that projects already under development will remain unchanged.

“As far as the Indus Waters Treaty is concerned, no changes will be made to ongoing projects since their technical details are already finalised. But for projects still in the planning stage, we can consider more water storage and power generation,” Khattar said.

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Indus water treaty on hold

The government put the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan on hold after the 22 April terror attack in Pahalgam. The treaty had restricted water storage in hydro projects along the Indus river basin. Now, India is likely to allow more water storage for new projects.