India Unlikely to Reassess Suspension of Indus Waters Treaty, Says Ministry of Jal Shakti

The Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) is not rushing to lift the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a move by the central government as part of stringent actions against Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, a senior official revealed on Friday.

The Treaty was specifically mentioned in MoJS's monthly report presented earlier this week before Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan, which stated that the suspension remains in place.

Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, had said in the report that the IWT will continue to remain suspended "until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism."

India is not also rushing to react to an offer from Pakistani Water Resources Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza, who has extended an approach to discuss points raised by New Delhi in its renegotiation demands for the treaty.

These events have taken place in the backdrop of contrasting views held by incumbent Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, and his predecessor Mehbooba Mufti, on reviving J&K's Tulbul Navigation project following suspension of the IWT.

Started in 1987, the Tulbul Navigation project aims to reclaim Wular lake, which is fed by Jhelum River in Bandipora district. The project was, however, suspended in 2007 following Pakistan's objections under the IWT.

Following India's abrogation of the Treaty on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack, Abdullah on Thursday urged revival of the Wular Lake project.

In a tweet on X, Chief Minister stated when the water agreement has been suspended, "I wonder if we will be able to revive the project."

Abdullah's offer was denounced by Mufti as "irresponsible and dangerously provocative."

Separately, last month, Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil launched the web-based Reservoir Storage Monitoring System (RSMS) Portal.

The live storage capacity of 161 major reservoirs of the country is being tracked by the Central Water Commission (CWC) and a weekly bulletin is released on each Thursday. The total live storage capacity at full reservoir level (FRL) of these reservoirs is 182.375 billion cubic meters (BCM), which represents nearly 70.74% of the country's estimated live storage capacity.

This bulletin is circulated to the Prime Minister's Office, NITI Aayog, Jal Shakti Ministry, Power Ministry, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Ministry, Indian Meteorological Department, Disaster Management Authorities, and all concerned state governments, and is also available on the CWC website.