Under Modi-led Indian government, the hostilities between Pakistan and India are moving from bad to worse.
Modi had threatened several times to scrap Indus Water treaty during recent election campaign in Punjab.
As per latest developments, it has been learnt that India has practically waged water war on Pakistan. India has accelerated construction of 100 dams along rivers that flow into Pakistan, thus, blatantly violating the Indus Water Treaty and international laws. International watchdogs have not taken any notice yet.
Well-informed sources have revealed that India has completed preparations for construction of 24 hydropower projects on Chenab River, 52 on Jhelum River and 18 on Sindh River. The World Bank (WB) has also granted loan to India for construction of hydropower projects. In this pretext, if India bars water movement on Marala Headworks, Pakistan would lose 10 million acre rice production area.
India has completed Phase-I of controversial Baglihar Dam on Chenab River. The 450MW Baglihar Dam is consuming 430 cusecs of water. Similarly, 690MW Salal Hydroelectric Power Station is consuming 14,550 cusecs of river water whereas 780MW Dul Hasti Hydroelectric Plant is consuming 7,522 cusecs of river water.
In the meantime, India is rapidly summing up construction activities on 1200MW Sawalkot Dam, 1020MW Pakal Dul Dam, 560MW Ratle Dam, 1020MW Bharsar Hydropower project, 370MW Shamnot Hydropower project among several others notable projects in a bid to create worse water shortage in Pakistan in coming years.
Several other hydroelectric projects, including Gyspa, Chattru, Shangling, Miyarm Tandi, Seli, Reoli Dugli, Bardang, Patam, Tinget and Purthi, are coming up in the ecologically vulnerable region of Himachal Pradesh but on Chenab River.
Analysts call for concrete measures to counter Indian water aggression. Regrettably, no noticeable hydropower projects have been erected by Pakistan in the last two decades.
