Modi Govt moves to tap share of Indus to strike back at Pakistan

NEW DELHI: In keeping with its decision to review utilisation of Indus waters as part of its signalling that Pakistan cannot expect past voluntary concessions to continue as long as it continues status quo on relations with India, the government according to a media report in Delhi has moved further on a project to store water in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.
Looking to fast-track utilisation of India’s rights under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the Central Water Commission (CWC) has finalised a detailed report on Ujh multi-purpose project and the government made it clear that proposal aims to harness water that was flowing untapped across the border, said a report that appeared on web portal of the “Times of India” on Sarturday. The project report has been submitted to the J&K government for evaluation so that construction may begin at an early date.
The government decided to take a relook at the implementation of the Indus treaty after PM Narendra Modi decided to do so following the attack on an Army camp at Uri in 2016. An inter-ministerial task force with Nripendra Mishra, principal secretary to the PM, and national security adviser Ajit Doval was formed to examine the IWT with Pakistan.The Ujh project is a step towards India’s utilisation of waters of the Indus and its tributaries in keeping with its rights under the treaty.
Under the IWT, signed with Pakistan in 1960, waters of Ravi are allocated to India. It, however, took the CWC 16 years to complete the process of detailed project report (DPR) after getting a formal nod to do so in 2001, following a political prompt from the current government. The task force was set up after India decided it will explore all options for utilising the maximum waters of the Indus system that is legally given to it under the treaty.