India moves to stop Ravi waters to Pak as Shahpur Kandi dam nears finish

JAMMU: India is preparing to halt surplus h2o from the Ravi flowing into Pakistan erstwhile the Shahpur Kandi dam connected Punjab-J&K borderline becomes operational, marking a long-awaited displacement successful usage of eastbound stream waters of Indus basin.J&K curate Javed Ahmed Rana said Monday the dam is expected to beryllium completed by March 31 and is simply a precedence for drought-prone Kathua and Samba districts. Officials said the task volition irrigate astir 5,000 hectares successful Punjab and much than 32,173 hectares crossed Kathua and Samba successful J&K. Central assistance of Rs 485.38 crore was approved for the irrigation component.Former irrigation curate Taj Mohideen said the dam falls extracurricular Indus Waters Treaty due to the fact that India has exclusive rights implicit the Ravi. Rana added that suspension of the pact has accelerated powerfulness and dam projects successful J&K.The 1960 pact divides the Indus system’s waters, designating eastbound rivers (Sutlej, Beas, Ravi) to India and occidental rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan. India enactment the pact successful abeyance aft the April 2025 violent onslaught successful Pahalgam that killed 26 people, a crisp argumentation displacement aimed astatine pressuring Pakistan implicit cross-border terrorism.The determination halted information sharing and opened the doorway for greater usage of occidental stream waters.

Part of the Ravi flows unused done Madhopur into Pakistan contempt request successful Punjab and J&K, Rana said, stressing that the dam would curb specified wastage. Projects similar Shahpur Kandi are captious to reallocating flows towards home irrigation and distant from downstream discharge.The task was archetypal cleared successful Nov 2001 but stalled for years amid interstate disputes. After a bid of bilateral and cardinal meetings, Punjab and J&K reached an statement successful Sept 2018. Union furniture chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved implementation connected Dec 6 that year.Bani MLA Dr Rameshwar Singh said residents had waited years for completion. “Once it is completed, the h2o volition nary longer travel into Pakistan but volition alternatively beryllium utilized to irrigate our ain immense areas successful Kathua,” helium said.