“Idea of the first meeting was to indicate India’s intention to fully utilise the country’s share of waters within the Treaty and bring the two states (Punjab and J&K) on board for speeding up the entire process,” said an official. He said, “Both the states have been asked to get back as early as possible with their respective ground reports. Next meeting of the task force will be held in January.”
Under the IWT, signed between the two countries in 1960, the waters of eastern rivers are allocated to India. Though India is under obligation to let the waters of the western rivers flow, it is permitted to construct storage of water on western rivers up to 3.6 million acre feet (MAF) for various purposes, including domestic use. India has, however, not developed any storage facility so far. India has also not tapped its full quota of water for irrigation under the Treaty.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
