Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday strongly opposed the flow of water from the three western rivers of the Indus system in Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, reminding the neighbouring state of how it had “maltreated” J&K for years together.
On the 113-km canal proposed for redirecting surplus water from the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, the three western rivers of the system, to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, Abdullah said, “I will never allow this. Let’s use our water for ourselves first. There is a drought-like situation in Jammu. Why should I send water to Punjab? Punjab already had water (of three eastern rivers) under the Indus Water Treaty. Did they give us water when we needed it?”
“We were in dire straits then. They kept us waiting for years on the Ujh multipurpose and Shahpur Kandi barrage projects. After years, some work was done on the Shahpur Kandi barrage. This water (of the three western rivers) is for us. We will use it for ourselves and then think about others.”
Asked how Jammu and Kashmir was going to use the western river waters, he said that the government would restart the Tulbul navigation project and divert the Chenab water from Akhnoor to Jammu city.
After the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that left 26 people dead and scores injured, India has kept in abeyance the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan. Under the treaty, brokered by the World Bank, the water from the six rivers of the system were divided between the two countries. The eastern rivers of the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej were given to India and the western rivers of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan, with India permitted limited, non-consumptive use of the latter.