Relevance: GS-2: India and neighbourhood relations

Key Phrases: Indus Water Treaty, World Bank, hydropower projects, Ratle project, Pakal Dul project, Kwar project, Permanent Indus Commission.

Why in News?

• India is working on building 10 hydropower projects totalling 6.8 Giga Watt (GW) in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to fully utilize its share of waters under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.
• The projects being undertaken at an investment of ₹68,000 crores by state-run NHPC Ltd are part of India’s plan to exercise its rights to stop excess water from flowing into Pakistan.

About the projects:

• The projects being constructed in Jammu and Kashmir by the public sector undertaking are:
  • 1,000 MW Pakal Dul project,
  • 850 MW Ratle project,
  • 624 MW Kiru project, and
  • 540 MW Kwar project.
• In addition, India’s largest power generation firm also plans to build
  • 1,856 MW Sawalkot (J&K),
  • 930 MW Kirthai-II (J&K), and
  • 500 MW Dugar (HP),
  • 240 MW Uri-I Stage-II (J&K), and
  • 260 MW Dulhasti Stage-II (J&K).
• Kwar project:
  • Last month, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared the construction of the 540 MW Kwar project by Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between NHPC Ltd and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corp. Ltd.
  • The Kwar project’s construction activities will result in direct and indirect employment for around 2500 people and will contribute to the overall socio-economic development of the Union Territory of J&K.
• India is also working on a plan to divert the waters of Ujh, which is one of the main tributaries of the Ravi that flows into Pakistan.

Strategic Importance:

• These projects assume strategic importance against the backdrop of China developing the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, given that control over river water flow acts as a force multiplier during times of aggression.
• India has adopted a similar approach on its eastern borders and plans to construct the country’s second-largest dam at Yingkiong in Arunachal Pradesh to counter China’s ambitious scheme to divert water from the river that feeds downstream into the Brahmaputra.

Importance of hydropower:

• India has an estimated hydropower potential of 1,45,320 MW, excluding small hydro projects (SHPs). At the end of February 2020, the installed capacity was about 45,700 MW.
• India is committed to having 40 percent of its installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030 and is pursuing a renewable target of 175 GW by 2022 (seems improbable) and 450 GW by 2030.
• Therefore, hydropower is highly relevant for grid integration of renewable energy and for balancing infirmities.

Indus Waters Treaty (IWT):

• The IWT was signed by the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then Pakistani President Ayub Khan on September 19, 1960. Brokered by the World Bank (then known as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development).
• The treaty fixed and delimited the rights and obligations of both countries concerning the use of the waters of the Indus River system.
• The Indus River rises in the south-western Tibet Autonomous Region of China and flows through the Kashmir region and then into Pakistan to drain into the Arabian Sea.
• It is joined by numerous tributaries, notably those of the eastern Punjab Plain—the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers.
• According to the Indus Waters Treaty, whoever builds a project first will have the first rights on the river waters.
• The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of six rivers—Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum.
• The three western rivers, the Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum, were given to Pakistan for unrestricted use, with the exception of certain non-consumptive, agricultural, and household uses by India, whereas the three eastern rivers, the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, were given to India for unrestricted use. This means that Pakistan received 80 percent of the water, or around 135 million-acre feet (MAF), whereas India received 33 MAF, or 20 percent of the water.

Dispute Resolution:

• Numerous disputes were peacefully settled over the years through the Permanent Indus Commission.
• Under the provisions of Article VIII (5) of the Indus Waters Treaty, the Permanent Indus Commission is required to meet regularly at least once a year, alternately in India and Pakistan.
• The Indus Waters Treaty also provides a three-step dispute resolution mechanism, under which “questions” on both sides can be resolved at the Permanent Commission, or can also be taken up at the inter-government level.
• In case of unresolved questions or “differences” between the countries on water-sharing, such as technical differences, either side can approach the World Bank to appoint a Neutral Expert (NE) to come to a decision.
• And eventually, if either party is not satisfied with the NE’s decision or in case of “disputes” in the interpretation and extent of the treaty, matters can be referred to a Court of Arbitration.

Earlier Disputes with Pakistan:

• The move comes four years after Prime Minister dedicated NHPC Ltd.’s Kishanganga hydropower project to the nation.
• The 330 MW project on the river Kishanganga, a tributary of the Jhelum, has significant strategic importance.
• Pakistan had challenged the project under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, but the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague ruled in India’s favour in 2013.
• Apart from Kishanganga, Pakistan had also raised objections to the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on the Chenab.

Way forward:

• India is well within her rights under the provisions of the IWT to fully stop the leakages from the Eastern Rivers which is approximately 3 million-acre feet (MAF), and make efforts to impound 3.6 MAF from the Western Rivers as entitled by the provisions of the IWT.
• Exercise of that right cannot invite differences with the World Bank which stood guarantee to the IWT, nor will it leave any scope for the world opinion to allege a violation of the rights of lower riparian states as provided under the provisions of the ‘UN Convention of 1997 on International Channels’.
• It also needs to be appreciated that India needs to harness the hydroelectric potentials of the Western Rivers, as entitled to her within the provisions of the IWT, to ensure that the power requirement of the State of J&K is fully met.
• Currently, out of a potential of 18653 MW only a few MW is being exploited and therefore it would be in the fitness of things that India creates the necessary infrastructure to store the water to the extent of her entitlements and generates hydro-electricity as provided in the IWT.

Source: Live-Mint

Mains Question:

Q. Indus Water Treaty dictates India’s relation with Pakistan as a tool of water diplomacy. Discuss.

Q. Indus Water Treaty is an example of the possibilities of peaceful coexistence that exist despite the troubled relationship between both neighbouring countries. Evaluate.