Ravi water flow completely stopped after barrage construction by India: report

• Water to be used for irrigation in India's Samba and Kathua districts.
• India holds exclusive rights over Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas rivers.
• Barrage located on border of India's Punjab and IIOJK.

India has completely stopped the water flow from the Ravi River to Pakistan with the completion of its Shahpur Kandi barrage located on the border of Punjab and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), The News reported on Monday quoting the Times of India.

As per media reports cited by the Indian publication, the 1,150 cusecs of water that was previously allotted to Pakistan will now be used in the IIOJK region with more than 32,000 hectares of land being irrigated in Samba and Kathua districts.

The Shahpur Kandi barrage project, holding a crucial significance for irrigation and hydropower generation, has faced numerous challenges over the past three decades. However, it is now nearing completion.

The reports claim that as per the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, New Delhi has exclusive rights over the waters of the Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas rivers, while Pakistan has control over the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers.

The completion of the Shahpur Kandi barrage allows India to make maximum use of the Ravi River, ensuring that the water previously flowing towards Pakistan from the old Lakhanpur dam will now be utilised in IIOJK and India's Punjab, the reports added.

India has already constructed several storage works, including the Bhakra Dam on the Sutlej, Pong and Pandoh Dam on the Beas, and Thein (Ranjitsagar) on the Ravi. These projects, along with others like the Beas-Sutlej link and the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project, have allowed India to utilise nearly its entire share (95%) of the waters from the eastern rivers.

However, the media reports say, that approximately two million acre-feet of water from the Ravi River is still flowing unutilised to Pakistan below Madhopur. 

With the completion of the Shahpur Kandi barrage, India can now harness the water resources from the Ravi River for its own benefit, the reports added.