New Delhi/Jammu, Feb 18: India is set to stop surplus Ravi river water from flowing into Pakistan from April as the long-delayed Shahpur Kandi dam on the Punjab–Jammu and Kashmir border nears completion by March 31, signalling New Delhi’s resolve to fully utilise its share of eastern rivers under the Indus Waters Treaty.
Officials said excess Ravi water had for decades entered Pakistan due to inadequate storage and diversion infrastructure on the Indian side, a gap now closing with the fast-tracked project’s completion.
Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources Minister Javed Ahmed Rana confirmed the move, stating, “Excess water to Pakistan will be stopped. It has to be stopped,” while emphasising the project’s importance for drought-prone Kathua and Samba districts and the Kandi belt.
The development comes amid heightened India–Pakistan tensions after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed militants and followed with punitive steps including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
Brokered by the World Bank, the treaty allocates eastern rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India and western rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan, though India has long argued that unfinished works allowed large Ravi volumes to flow downstream into Pakistan.
Revived in 2018 with central assistance of ₹485.38 crore, the Shahpur Kandi project will irrigate about 32,173 hectares in J&K and 5,000 hectares in Punjab, regulate water for 1.18 lakh hectares in Punjab and generate 206 MW of hydropower.
The project will also end routine overflow from the Madhopur Headworks into Pakistan, correcting what India views as a decades-old anomaly. Work on four hydropower projects on the Chenab in J&K has also been accelerated for commissioning by 2027–28.
Conceived in a 1979 Punjab–J&K pact and first inaugurated in 1995, Shahpur Kandi faced decades of funding and inter-state disputes that left canal networks in J&K largely unused—delays officials say are now finally ending. (Agencies)
