Punjab’s flip flops on river water sharing : At J&K’s cost?

By Colonel Satish Singh Lalotra

India, the biggest democracy of the world is a unique combination of ‘Federalism’ in which powers have been divided between the Central Government and its constitutional parts such as the States or Union Territories. But at the same time it retains the ‘Unitary’ system of governance which is referred to as having non-federal characteristics. As a result one may call India as a ‘Quasi-federal’ state. This so called ‘Quasi-federalism’ has off late become more of a bane than a boon for smooth governance of the country. The nation is nowadays increasingly being riddled with issues that calls for a thorough review of our governance model both at the Central level as well as the state level. One of the oldest but yet having the potential of derailing smooth functioning of Center -State relations is pertaining to the thorny issue of ‘River water sharing’ between various constituents of India. From Cauvery water issues to Mettur dam to the SYL ( Satluj Yamuna link canal) , the litany of woes that have been heaped upon the nation-state of india by its constituents seek no further explanation in terms of its reach as well as the deleterious effects on the combined governance model of India. The fact these issues have been bedeviling the country’s national as well as state polity for decades to no end, is testimony to the quality of polity that we as citizens have been electing and sending them to the highest echelons of governance. One such polity that has off late gained traction in the aftermath of ‘Op Sindoor’ has emanated from Punjab , with its Chief Minister heading this thinking that seems to take full advantage of expediency which arose consequent to India’s holding the IWT (Indus Water Treaty) in abeyance. Taking advantage of the country getting freed from the shackles of regressive treaty of IWT, the present Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann has sensed an opportunity to fix the SYL ( Satluj Yamuna Link ) canal issue.
His recent urgings at a meeting convened by the Union ‘Jal Shakti’ Minister CR Patil to resolve the water sharing issue by diverting ‘Surplus’ waters from River Chenab to the controversial SYL Canal / Punjab which could then in turn be shared with Haryana , even MP and other states is nothing short of taking a ‘preposterous stand’. Readers will do well to remember that this controversial SYL Canal issue was one of the major bones of contention during the early 1980s in Punjab and was indirectly linked to the greater Punjab autonomy along with the ‘Anandpur Sahib resolution. Just to recapitulate for the readers-under the IWT, the usage of waters of western rivers system comprising of Indus, Jehlum and Chenab had been done to Pakistan in an overwhelming proportion compared to India. In the similar vein, India had the allotment/ usage of eastern rivers system of the IWT comprising Ravi, Beas and Satluj an overriding proportion compared to Pakistan. As per the chief minister of Punjab, the two neighbouring States ( Punjab & Haryana) are gridlocked over sharing 2 to 3 MAF( Million acre feet) of water for years , whereas if 23 MAF( Million acre feet ) of water from river Chenab was diverted through dams at Pong, Ranjit sagar, and Bhakra , the perennial problem of SYL Canal could be sorted out once for all. What an idea! As if Bhagwant Mann was waiting for India holding the IWT In abeyance and having his pound of flesh too by his suggestion to CR Patil, the Union Jal Shakti Minister.
The Center too took note of Mann’s proposal and has scheduled a follow- up meeting on 05 th August 2025 to take a call on the issue, which will be conveyed to the Supreme Court of India during the hearing of the case on 13 th August. The Apex Court had earlier appointed the ‘Jal Shakti’ Minister as a mediator and directed him to facilitate a mutually acceptable resolution between Punjab & Haryana. What a joke by the apex court of India for having ignored Jammu & Kashmir through which river Chenab runs and on whom depends upon many of the hydroelectric projects of the erstwhile state. A State, which though having the highest stake in terms of hydroelectric power generation as well as irrigation from river Chenab has been altogether short shrifted in this meeting. I am sure many of the readers including the current Chief Minister of Punjab may not be knowing that as on date there are almost 12 ( twelve) ongoing hydropower projects , commissioned or otherwise solely based on river Chenab. What will be the fate of these 12 hydropower projects in Jammu & Kashmir if 23 MAF (Million acre feet) of water from river Chenab is diverted to the dams of Punjab, so as to make sure the SYL Canal runs to its full operational capacity? What if the IWT was not kept in abeyance and waters of river Chenab not available to SYL canal? Then would the present CM of Punjab bided his time like his predecessors and come out like a damp squib?
The icing on the cake in this whole imbroglio seems to be that the Central Government is reportedly assessing the technical practicability of diverting Chenab waters to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan by way of testing the feasibility of constructing a canal to link the Chenab with the Ravi-Beas-Sutlej system. As a corollary ,It is the same Central Government which along with the Punjab Government has been dragging its feet for not releasing waters of ‘Shahpurkandi’ dam due to Jammu & Kashmir on host of reasons. One of the prime reasons being that there are not enough canals in Jammu division for carrying water to its full capacity once the pondage of this dam reaches its stated capacity and height. An action plan under the (AIBP) ‘Accelerated irrigation benefits programme’ with Ministry of Water Resources and River Development cum ‘Ganga rejuvenation as apex body was also prepared for the above tasks . But then the CWC (Central Water Commission) put a spoke in the plans by citing new guidelines whereby it was stated that no new funding could be made for the same project for next 10 years unless the previous allocated money was utilized.Was the CWC not empowered to tell the Central Government to further goad the State/ UT Administration to get its act together & spend money in making and strengthening canal systems so as to be become eligible for the next tranche of financial assistance from its coffers? Any way shall come to this point later in this write up of mine. But first things first; river Chenab as per the IWT has an annual average flow of water as 26.5 million acre feet (MAF). There is no storage facility in terms of dams on Chenab in Pakistan, whereas on the Indian side Baglihar ,Dulhasti , Salal etc are on the Indian side which are run-of -river meaning minimal storage due to IWT treaty limits. Now let me go project wise the quantity of water of river Chenab that is used for existing hydropower projects in J&K
Salal Dam. Live storage -0.01 MAF Type Run of the river-Impact..very little water held back ;water flows downstream after power generation.
Baghlihar Dam. Live storage-0.025 MAF. Type-Pondage (temporary storage for daily power peaking) –impact-brief flow regulation, not long term storage.
DulHasti -live storage -negligible ( 0.005 MAF) Type-run of the river .
Upcoming projects (under construction).
* PakalDul (tributary of Chenab) .live storage-0.087 MAF, Impact. This is the largest planned reservoir so far.
* Kiru.. Live storage…0.034 MAF.
* Kwar–Live storage: minimal ( 0.005 MAF)
* Ratle–Live storage ( 0.01MAF)
So total live storage (all projects) included is 0.18 MAF that translates to just 0.7% of Chenab’s annual flow . Rest flows to Pakistan. Now if we interpolate the above data of water being used by the UT of J&K for its power generation vis a vis total annual flow of Chenab it is next to nothing. For irrigation purposes J&K is using very limited amount of water which again is regulated by the IWT. As an example Ranbir canal can carry only 1,000 cusecs of water for irrigation and 250 cusecs for hydropower generation. If the latest assertions made by the Punjab CM are taken into consideration then it means out of 26.5 MAF of annual flow of water of Chenab, 23 MAF be given to his state to tide over the problem posed by the SYL Canal. Then what is left with J&K? A meager 3.5 MAF with the premise that not a single drop of water is being allowed to flow into Pakistan post ‘Op Sindoor’. I am not sure if the Central Government has taken into account the fact that Punjab has failed to release 1150 cusecs of water from Ravi river to J&K for the last 45 years since Shahpur Kandi dam has been embroiled in technical glitches between the two states. Two months back the concerned authorities in J&K had sent a letter to the Chief Engineer (canals) of Punjab Government seeking clarity on when allocated 1150 cusecs of water from Ravi River will be released to J&K. Quite recently a very cryptic reply was received from the Punjab Government that ‘No specific time line regarding release of water can be given , but it is committed to provide due share of water to J&K as and when all the procedural formalities are completed for pondage of the reservoir at the dam. Now what are these procedural formalities? And who is supposed to complete them?
For the benefit of the readers of this article, most of these procedural formalities pertain to maintaining full compliance of the parameters as mandated in the ‘National dam safety authority’ ( NDSA) through a combination of regulatory oversight , technical assistance and collaboration of dam owners. Now whose responsibility is to maintain these procedural formalities? Is it not Punjab and the Central Government that has to get its act together to make sure that J&K is not at the receiving end of their combined inertia for so many years? Or is it that J&K Government has to take a suomoto action in the presence of clear cut partiality being shown by Delhi towards Punjab in its latest move by its tacit approval of diverting Chenab waters to Punjab? In fact the J&K CM recently flatly denied the Central Govt’s proposal for construction of 113 kms of canal for diverting the surplus water from his home state to that of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to prevent it from flowing into Pakistan. Rather he was correct when he said that most of Jammu division being an arid/ kandi area required its own river waters of the UT to help tide over its perpetual irrigation problems.Though my citing of the above example of Shahpur Kandi dam has nothing to do with the latest proposal of Punjab on release of Chenab waters to the SYL Canal, but when taken in totality it shows that as a whole the UT of J&K has been at the receiving end of equitable share of country’s natural resources. Placating one region of the country (Punjab) at the expense of other (J&K) will only breed ‘regional inequality’ with far reaching ominous consequences. With ‘Water’ being a ‘state subject’ under the Indian constitution, it is but natural that New Delhi / Central Government should be treading with caution and in an advisory role when it comes to ‘Center- state’ relations.Lastly as brought out in my previous paragraph as proclaimed-‘Surplus water of J&K’ getting diverted; where is surplus water in J&K? The reality is there is a glacial retreat of 0.5 to 1.5 meters in Kashmir Himalayas, with a wetland shrinkage of 45% in lakes like Wular, Hokersar & Anchar lakes since 1999.Lest the above interstate tangle become a Gordian knot between two northern most states of India, for which the country may repent at leisure it is imperative that a policy of ‘mutual give & take’ be the corner stone for all future deliberations in such thorny matters.
(The writer is a retired army officer)