Just 6% water of ‘eastern’ rivers flows into Pakistan-OxBig News Network

Just about 6 per cent of the total volume of water of the three ‘eastern’ rivers and their tributaries flowing through Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, which come under the purview of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), flows into Pakistan. Most of the water of these rivers is utilised by India through a network of dams, barrages, canals and power generation stations.

The three rivers are the Sutlej, Beas and the Ravi. The water of these rivers was allocated to India by the IWT signed between India and Pakistan in 1960. The water of the three ‘western’ rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab was allocated to Pakistan. On April 23, in response to the terror attack that killed 26 persons at Pahalgam in Kashmir, the Government of India has put the Treaty in abeyance.

“Annually, 28-32 million acre feet (MAF) of water is generated in the three rivers and their tributaries, both upstream and downstream of the dams, out of which about 2 MAF flows into Pakistan,” a senior functionary of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) said. “Most of this is excess water flowing during the monsoon, while the outflow during the rest of the year is largely negligible,” he added.

BBMB sources also said the 2 MAF flowing into Pakistan was mostly rain or monsoon excess that was beyond the holding capacity of these rivers and canals. It is released through the Ferozepur barrage. The amount of water being released varies year to year depending on the climatic conditions. The BBMB is responsible for the management of water of the Sutlej and Beas for irrigation and power generation. It operates the Bhakra Dam on the Sutlej and Pong Dam on the Beas, both located in Himachal Pradesh, besides a network of interlinking canals and powerhouses.

Another dam on the Ravi, Thein in Pathankot district, is managed by the Punjab Irrigation Department. While the Beas merges into the Sutlej in Kapurthala district, a canal diverts the Ravi water before it flows into Pakistan near Madhopur, into the Beas. The water of the three rivers finally converges at Harike in south-western Punjab.

From the Nangal Dam, downstream of Bhakra, and the Ropar headworks, the Bhakra Mainline Canal (BMC) and the Sirhind canal, and their sub-networks, carry water to parts of Punjab and Haryana. From the Harike and Ferozepur headworks, the Rajasthan Feeder, Sirhind Feeder and Bikaner Canal branch out for supplying water to north-western Rajasthan. The BMC joins the Rajasthan Feeder a little South of the border with Punjab, forming the Indira Gandhi Canal that goes up to the Bikaner-Jaisalmer area.

The barrage at Ferozepur checks the flow of water into Pakistan. The course of the Sutlej thereafter criss-crosses the International Border with Pakistan, before finally flowing into the neighbouring country and later merging with the Indus.

After the IWT was signed, a master plan was drawn to harness the potential of the ‘eastern’ rivers for irrigation, power generation and flood control. The Bhakra and Beas projects form the major part of the plan, and were established as a joint-venture of undivided Indian Punjab and Rajasthan.

On reorganisation of Punjab in November, 1966, the Bhakra Management Board (BMB) was constituted under Section 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. The administration, maintenance and operation of the Bhakra-Nangal project were handed over to the BMB in October 1967.