India keeps Baglihar gates shut as IWT suspension marks one year
Jammu: All gates of the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River in Ramban district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir remain closed even one year after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam attack.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the continued closure highlights the sustained impact of the treaty’s suspension on water management and hydroelectric operations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project has remained under close monitoring since the decision.
India put the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty on hold after the Pahalgam attack, signaling a major shift in bilateral water-sharing arrangements. Despite a later agreement on cessation of hostilities, New Delhi’s position on the treaty remains unchanged and the agreement is still in abeyance. Under the treaty, India received exclusive use of eastern rivers Ravi, Sutlej and Beas averaging 33 million acre feet, while western rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab averaging 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan.
India retained limited rights on western rivers for domestic use and run-of-the-river hydro projects like Baglihar. To utilize eastern river waters, India built Bhakra Dam on Sutlej, Pong and Pandoh dams on Beas, and Thein Dam on Ravi, along with Beas-Sutlej Link and Indira Gandhi Nahar Project.
The closure of Baglihar gates is being seen as part of broader measures linked to the treaty suspension.
