Water from rivers flowing in to Pakistan will be diverted by building dams in Uttarakhand, says Indian Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi: Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari said that dams will be built to divert water from the rivers flowing to Pakistan from India to resolve the daunting problem of water shortage in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. Three of these dams will be built in the state of Uttarakhand, said Gadkari. A meeting is scheduled to be held on the 29thof March regarding the ‘Indus Water Treaty’ signed between both the countries. This declaration by Gadkari before this meeting can cause panic in Pakistan. Pakistan had tried to refer the matter for international arbitration accusing India of cutting off the water that Pakistan had a legitimate right on.

Dams will be built on three rivers flowing into Pakistan. The government plans to solve the water scarcity problem faced by Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi by stopping and diverting this water with these dams. These dams will cause a rise in the water level in Yamuna and more of Yamuna water can be stored during rains, said Gadkari. This matter is possible under the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, confirmed Gadkari. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan are scheduled to discuss the Indus Water Treaty on Thursday and Pakistan representatives will be coming to India for this purpose. This is said to be the 114th round of talks about the treaty.

Pakistan has accused India of violation of the treaty and cutting off their share of water. Pakistan had taken this matter to the international arbitrator. Pakistan also tried to pull the World Bank into the dispute. But the World Bank rejected Pakistan’s request of mediation and advised to resolve the issue with peaceful bilateral negotiations. The arbitrator also had held the Indian side up and gave its verdict that India is not guilty of stealing the Pakistan water. The international institutions had expressed displeasure that Pakistan, who is accusing India of stealing its water, is allowing a huge proportion of water in its share to flow into the sea.

Even after this Pakistan continued its accusations against India. Some of the analysts of that country are warning that if India keeps cutting off the water flowing into Pakistan in this way, Pakistan would turn into a barren desert. A few years ago, Sartaj Aziz, the then advisor to the Prime Minister had threatened India of a war over this issue. But India went ahead to build dams on the rivers in Jammu-Kashmir without paying any heed to the Pakistani threats.

In 2016, the Indian Prime Minister had warned Pakistan that ‘Blood and Water cannot flow at the same time’ after the terrorist attack on the Uri military base in Jammu-Kashmir. India has indicated a stronger stand in this matter, with the announcement of constructing three dams in Uttarakhand.