India to reduce water flowing into Pakistan, set to divert Eastern rivers to other parts

Gadkari also took to Twitter to elaborate on India's plan regarding the three rivers - the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej- that flow into Pakistan.

New Delhi, Feb 21: India's share water into Pakistan from three Indus rivers would be reduced and the government has decided to divert water from these rivers to improve the availability of water in the Yamuna, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

At a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat on Wednesday, he had said that once the dams are built, Yamuna river will have more water.

"After formation of India and Pakistan, India and Pakistan got the right to use waters in three rivers each. The water from our three rivers is going to Pakistan. Now, we are planning to build a project and divert the water from these three rivers into Yamuna river. Once this happens, Yamuna will have more water," news agency ANI quoted Nitin Gadkari as saying.

Gadkari also took to Twitter to elaborate on India's plan regarding the three rivers - the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej- that flow into Pakistan.

"The construction of dam has started at Shahpur- Kandi on Ravi river. Moreover, UJH project will store our share of water for use in J&K and the balance water will flow from 2nd Ravi-BEAS Link to provide water to other basin states," Gadkari tweeted.

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, India shares the waters of the Beas and Sutlej rivers with Pakistan.

"Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Sri @narendramodi ji, Our Govt. has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab," Gadkari, who is the minister for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, tweeted this evening.

The World Bank had last year said that India is allowed to construct hydroelectric power plants on the Jhelum and Chenab Rivers after secretary-level discussions between India and Pakistan on the technical issues over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) concluded.

What is the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan?

The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank to use the water available in the Indus System of Rivers located in India. The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960 by the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and then President of Pakistan Ayub Khan.

According to this agreement, control over the water flowing in three "eastern" rivers of India - the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej with the mean flow of 33 million acre-feet (MAF) - was given to India, while control over the water flowing in three "western" rivers of India - the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum with the mean flow of 80 MAF - was given to Pakistan.

The treaty also provides arbitration mechanism to solve disputes amicably.Climate change is causing melting of ice in Tibetan plateau, which scientists believe will affect the river in future.