India cuts water flow through Baglihar dam on Chenab, plans similar move at Kishanganga: Report

India has cut the flow of water through the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River and is preparing to take similar action at the Kishanganga Dam on the Jhelum River, news agency PTI reported, citing a source. 

The Baglihar Dam, located in Jammu's Ramban district, and the Kishanganga Dam in north Kashmir provide India with the ability to regulate the timing and quantity of water releases to Pakistan. 

Both hydroelectric projects are now part of India's escalating measures to pressure Islamabad, following the April 22 attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in the Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam.

India has put the 1960 World Bank-brokered Indus Waters Treaty "in abeyance" until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.”

Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Satish Chandra has strongly backed the move, calling it a strategic masterstroke. “This move is a Brahmastra. Because the dependency of Pakistan on water is huge. It's actually much more than ours even. They are a water-scarce country. And if what we have done is taken to extreme limits it will cause extreme pain, even disruption in Pakistan,” Chandra said in an interview with StratNewsGlobal's Nitin Gokhale.

He added: “This has been an excellent move. This treaty was overly generous to Pakistan. India has 40% roughly of the catchment area of the Indus basin. But under the treaty, we are providing Pakistan with as much as 80% of the water. And keeping only 20% for ourselves.”

Chandra noted that even if India were to harness its rightful share under the treaty, it could help resolve chronic shortages in northern India. At the same time, any restriction in the flows to Pakistan would strike at the heart of its irrigation-dependent agriculture and fragile economy.

The Baglihar Dam has long been a flashpoint in India-Pakistan water disputes, with Islamabad previously seeking World Bank arbitration over its design. The Kishanganga Dam, which diverts water from the Neelum River, has also drawn diplomatic and legal challenges from Pakistan.

(With inputs from PTI)