Pakistan- India relations: water
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Kishanganga dam
2018: WB advises Pakistan to not pursue dispute at ICA
Omer Farooq Khan, June 5, 2018: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
World Bank had asked Pakistan to stop pursuing the Kishanganga dam dispute in the International Court of Arbitration
The World Bank had advised the Pak govt to accept India’s offer of appointing a “neutral expert” to resolve the dispute
While Pak wants the dispute to be referred to ICA, India describes it an issue of bilateral differences which can be solved by experts
The World Bank (WB) has asked Pakistan to stop pursuing the Kishanganga dam dispute in the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) and instead accept India’s offer of appointing a “neutral expert”.
The Pakistani daily Dawn reported on Tuesday that the World Bank president Jim Yong Kim had last week advised the government to not take the matter to the ICA. Incidentally, the bank had on November 10, 2016 even picked a US chief justice, the rector of Imperial College, London, and the WB president to appoint a chairman of the court to resolve the dispute over the dam.
Pakistan had opposed the construction of Kishanganga dam + , considering it a violation of a World Bank-mediated treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus and its tributaries. New Delhi believes that the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) allows it to build ‘run-of-river’ hydel projects that do not change the course of the river and do not deplete the water level downstream.
Islamabad, however, disputes New Delhi’s interpretation, arguing that the Kishanganga project not only violates the course of the river but also depletes its water level. While Pakistan wants the dispute to be referred to the ICA, India describes it an issue of bilateral differences over the design of the dam which can be addressed by some neutral experts.
“Pakistan believed that acceding to India’s proposal of referring the dispute to neutral experts or withdrawing from its stand would mean closing the doors of arbitration and surrendering its right of raising disputes before international courts. It will become a precedent and every time a dispute emerges between Pakistan and India, the latter will always opt for dispute resolution through neutral experts,” the report said, quoting a source privy to the development.
In December 2016, the WB president had informed the then Pakistani finance minister Ishaq Dar through a letter that he had decided to “pause” the process of appointing the ICA chairman as well as the neutral expert.
At this, Dar had lodged a strong protest with the WB and had asked the bank to play its due role in the matter.
Pakistan believes that on the one hand the WB has tied its hands from raising the dispute at the ICA, and on the other, it has not blocked the Indian effort to complete the construction of the dam.
In February 2017, the WB further extended its halt until the secretary-level talks between the two countries bore some fruit. Subsequently, four rounds of talks were held in February, April, July and September in Washington in which the bank was willing to appoint an international court to pick between the two options. “But India did not accept it,” the source said. The WB even declined Pakistan’s plea on May 22, 2018.
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2019/ India ends goodwill gesture, stops sharing hydrological data
Vishwa Mohan, August 22, 2019: The Times of India
Taking the offensive, India has refused to renew its 1989 agreement of sharing hydrological data during flood season with Pakistan and told the neighbour that it would only provide information on “extraordinary discharges and flood flows”.
The agreement, a result of an earlier India’s goodwill gesture, was renewed every year. But the Indian position has changed, coinciding with heightened tensions over the abrogation of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status and the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories. “This agreement was not renewed in the current year by us,” P K Saxena, Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters, told TOI on Wednesday. The decision, however, has nothing to do with the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 for sharing waters of the Indus system. “India as a responsible nation is committed to the provisions of the IWT,” said Saxena.
Referring to the 1989 agreement to share hydrological data during flood season between July 1 to October 10, he said, “This was the arrangement beyond the IWT provisions as a gesture of goodwill from India. This arrangement was being renewed every year since 1989 with modifications as and when required.”
Asked about IWT, he said, “Under the Treaty provisions, India is required to provide advance information in regard to ‘extraordinary discharges and flood flows’. This is being done whenever the extraordinary flows are reached.”
Though Saxena didn’t elaborate, the move clearly appeared a fall out of the Pulwama terror attack in February and current tensions. India communicated its move to Pakistan on Tuesday — the day Union Jal Shakti (water resources) minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat expressed the country’s intent to fully utilise its share of water from Indus river system within the IWT rather than allowing it to flow into Pakistan. India was working on how its share of water that flows to Pakistan could be diverted for use by its own farmers, industries and people. “Work has already begun to stop the waters that flow into Pakistan (under IWT). I am talking about the water which is going to Pakistan, and I am not talking about breaking the Indus treaty,” Shekhawat was quoted as saying by a news agency in Mumbai. He said that the experts were working on the hydrological and techno-feasibility studies.
Under the IWT, waters of eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) are allocated to India while the country is under obligation to let flow water of the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) to Pakistan. India can even use the water from the western rivers for its domestic purposes, irrigation and generating hydro-electric power to an extent.
Why river water from parched Punjab flows unused into Pakistan
As of 2025
Anju Agnihotri Chaba, May 5, 2025: The Indian Express
During the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a rally in Jalandhar, said he would ensure that India’s share of the Indus river water flowing into Pakistan is given to “Punjab ki dharti” (land of Punjab) instead.
The problem is that India lacks a mechanism to store water over which it has legitimate rights under the now-suspended Indus water system. While in times of scarcity, even the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan clamour for this water, in the monsoon, when the rivers are gushing, there is no way to store the water, and Pakistan accuses India of releasing “excess water” into its territory.
Under the Indus Water Treaty, all the water of the “Eastern Rivers” of the Indus system — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi — is available for the “unrestricted use” of India. Pakistan receives water from the “Western Rivers” — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab.
Punjab: a water problem
Around 47% of Punjab’s water needs are met through groundwater, which is depleting fast.
Punjab’s annual water demand stands at 66.12 billion cubic meters (BCM), of which 62.58 BCM is required for agriculture. However, the total available water is only 52.85 BCM, creating a deficit of 13.27 BCM. The effective rainfall provides 20.98 BCM, while the availability of groundwater that can be replenished is 17.07 BCM. Canal water contributes 14.80 BCM.
Despite being a major riparian state, Punjab has limited rights to its three perennial rivers (Sutlej, Ravi, and Beas), which together carry 42.4 BCM of water. Punjab’s allocated share is 17.95 BCM, while the rest is for other states, like Haryana and Rajasthan. The available canal water is estimated at 14.80 BCM. The deficit of 13.27 BCM is being met through the over-exploitation of groundwater.
According to aquifer mapping studies conducted in 2017 by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Punjab’s groundwater resources are depleting at an alarming rate, said Dr. Rakesh Sharda of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.
How much water goes to Pakistan from the Eastern Rivers?
A significant amount of water, especially from the Ravi, flows unused into Pakistan every year.
Out of the 42.6 BCM of water in Punjab’s rivers, the state uses just 14.80 BCM. The remaining water flows to Rajasthan (approximately 10.6 BCM), Haryana, and Pakistan. During the monsoon season, surplus water from these rivers is released to Pakistan, said sources in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
For instance, in 2019, from April to June, around 2,060 million cubic meters (MCM) of water was released from the major dams on the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi. Of this, 30-40% was used within Punjab for irrigation, while the rest was released to Pakistan and other Indian states through the canal network. While these figures, reported by the Central Water Commission (CWC), support the state government’s argument of releasing excess water to prevent flooding, they also highlight Punjab’s failure to utilise available water to address its supply gaps.
Why is Punjab not storing this water?
Only the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi have dams; smaller rivers and rivulets, which often flood vast areas during heavy rains, require better management. Canalisation—directing river water into specific channels, using mini-dams or constructing embankments (Dhussi bandhs) to control surplus flows—has not yet been effectively implemented. Although former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced plans to canalise Punjab’s rivers and other water sources during the 2019 floods, no significant progress has been made.
In addition, there is a need to remodel Punjab’s canal system, especially to manage excess water from Beas and tributaries like the Ujh. Such measures would help divert water for irrigation and recharge the rapidly depleting groundwater table.
There are also concerns about the indiscriminate encroachment of floodplains, which further complicates water management.
Urban water supply crisis in Punjab
Punjab’s major cities, such as Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Amritsar, face a severe water shortage during the summer.
In Jalandhar, there was a proposal to bring in the Beas water, but the project, which would cost around Rs 2,000 crore, is yet to materialise.
“The water crisis in Punjab is not just about scarcity—it’s also about mismanagement and a lack of infrastructure. The state is caught in a complex web of water-sharing disputes with its neighboring states and Pakistan, all the while facing the looming threat of desertification. Unless substantial investments are made in water management, storage, and infrastructure, and area under paddy is decreased, Punjab’s water crisis will only deepen,” said an expert from the Punjab Water resources department.
See also
Water Resources: India (ministry data)
Pakistan- India relations: water
