Moon Desk: India committed an act of water aggression against Azad Jammu and Kashmir by abruptly releasing water from its dams into the Jhelum River, which originates in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and flows into AJK before entering Punjab. Earlier, India’s release of water from its dams into three eastern rivers — Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej — triggered widespread flooding across Punjab with officials apprehending India could release more water complicating the flood situation.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that data on water flows which used to be shared by India under the treaty had not passed to Pakistan quickly enough, or in sufficient detail, adding climate change had made the annual monsoon less predictable, making it more vital to share data. It is now crystal clear that India is using water as a two-pronged weapon against Pakistan – it is building a number of dams including those on the three rivers meant for Pakistan under the World Bank-brokered Indus Water Treaty (IWT) to turn otherwise fertile lands barren during periods of water stress and is suddenly releasing excessive water and that too without timely and properly sharing necessary data to cause devastation, as we are witnessing these days.
There are reasons to believe that manipulated and delayed communication of warnings and data played its role in aggravating the flood situation in different areas of Punjab. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 820 people have died in the country so far this monsoon season. The flooded eastern region, home to half of the country’s 240 million people and its agricultural heartland, has suffered widespread crop damage. The National Flood Forecasting Division likened the current threat to the catastrophic 2014 floods, which inundated hundreds of villages and displaced over 275,000 people. Officials said the weekend would be critical, warning that “no machinery can slow or stop” the incoming deluge.
The enormity of the catastrophe can be gauged by the fact that so far over 1.5 million people have been evacuated and in the emerging scenario more will have to be shifted to safer places. Experts also warn about a fresh wave of price-hike and shortage of essential commodities in weeks to come as vast swathes of fertile land submerged in water causing severe damage to crops, vegetables and fruits. Besides the India factor, active monsoon conditions are expected to persist until at least September 10, 2025, with further heavy rainfall anticipated in eastern Punjab, the K-P, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh, exacerbating flood risks in downstream districts.
India has suspended implementation of the Treaty on the pretext of the Pahalgam incident and the lack of required cooperation and deliberate mischievous acts of New Delhi are aggravating the situation further both for the affected people as well as the Government of Pakistan. According to a Reuter report, an Indian government source denied deliberately flooding Pakistan but confirmed that two gates of the Madhopur barrage had collapsed. However, sudden excessive flows tell the real story and based on circumstantial evidence, Pakistan should take up the issue at relevant international forums.
