Bhakra Waters Row Escalates Amid Treaty Suspension

Water Wars and Diplomatic Currents: Bhakra Reservoir Dispute Deepens Amidst Indo-Pak Treaty Suspension

 

As geopolitical tensions surge between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, a parallel storm brews within India’s borders—between Punjab and Haryana—over the flow of water from the Bhakra reservoir. The gravity of this domestic water row has taken on new geopolitical significance as the Centre suspends the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, a move that reverberates across India’s northern plains.

 

Haryana has formally urged Punjab to release essential drinking water from the Bhakra reservoir, cautioning that failure to do so may result in surplus water spilling across the border into Pakistan via the Hari-ke-Pattan headworks. This warning carries both environmental and diplomatic weight, especially at a time when India is attempting to tighten its control over water resources formerly designated under the Indus framework.

 

With the onset of the monsoon looming, Haryana has pressed for immediate dewatering of the Bhakra reservoir, one of the core hydraulic infrastructures under the erstwhile Indus treaty. It argues that failure to create storage headroom before the rains could force a release of water downstream—ironically strengthening Pakistan’s share at a time when New Delhi seeks to curtail it.

Haryana’s Water Resources leadership contends that beyond strategic necessity, this is a humanitarian issue. The state’s demand stems from its need to maintain drinking water supply not just within its boundaries but also for the National Capital Territory. The implication is sharp: if Punjab withholds water, Delhi’s taps may soon run dry. Haryana’s officials have also questioned the apparent shift in Punjab’s approach—suggesting political motivations may now be shaping water policy more than hydrological reality, particularly after the fall of the Aam Aadmi Party-led administration in Delhi.

Meanwhile, Punjab has held firm to its claim that Haryana exhausted its share of water by March. Haryana disputes this, stating that of the water released last month by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), a substantial portion was diverted to Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab itself, leaving Haryana with only 6,800 cusecs. Officials from Haryana further argue that meeting their current demand would draw a negligible 0.0001 per cent from Bhakra’s total storage—a quantity, they assert, too minor to justify Punjab’s obstruction.

The water dispute between these two agrarian powerhouses is decades old, rooted in the unfulfilled Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. Although Haryana has completed its portion of the canal, Punjab stalled its construction in 1982, later halting the project altogether. With water scarcity becoming a political and strategic flashpoint, the canal’s incompletion continues to symbolise North India’s fractured federal water policy.

Punjab’s leadership, while defending its refusal, has accused the Centre and the BJP of manipulating the BBMB to favour Haryana. It also proposed diverting flows from western rivers—Chenab, Jhelum, and Ujh—to cater to northern states, now that the Indus Water Treaty is in abeyance. Yet this argument overlooks a critical agricultural calendar: Haryana has pointed out that April and May are not paddy-sowing months, and hence the water is strictly meant for drinking, not irrigation.

The Bhakra and Pong reservoirs, key installations under the now-suspended Indus Waters Treaty, were originally seen as diplomatic tools—projects that balanced internal state needs while honouring international obligations. Today, they stand at the confluence of a high-stakes standoff, both between states and across borders.

As the monsoon advances and political tempers rise, the waters of the Bhakra reservoir have become more than a matter of agriculture or administration—they have become symbols of strategic assertion, federal strain, and an uncertain hydro political future.