The River Ravi in Pakistan dried up on Monday after India stopped the flow of water in it, redirecting it towards areas it controls.
India has completed construction of the Shahpur Kandi Barrage in the Pathankot district of Indian Punjab and near the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu And Kashmir (IIOJK). As a result, India has started diverting some 1,150 cubic meters of water from the river to irrigation projects in the Kathua and Samba districts.
New Delhi hopes the water will be used to irrigate some 32,000 hectares of land in IIOJK as areas downstream of the Ravi get parched.
Under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty between Pakistan and India, New Delhi was obligated to ensure that a portion of Ravi's water flowed downstream into Pakistan from the Lakhanpur dam. However, the Shahpur Kandi Barrage changes this.
New Delhi argues that under the treaty, India controls the waters of the Ravi, Sutlej and Beas. On the other hand, Pakistan would retain control of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers.
The barrage was conceived in the 1950s, before the Indus Water Treaty was signed between the two countries. However, its construction did not begin until 1992. The project was supposed to have been completed by 2002 but faced delays due to funding constraints and land acquisition issues. The project was not completed until 2022 and formally started functioning on February 25, 2024.