There is a river that has flowed through the heart of Pakistani Punjab for centuries. Farmers along its banks have measured their seasons by it, calibrated their sowing to it, and built civilisations around the certainty of its arrival. The Chenab is not merely a river to Pakistan. It is a lifeline. And for the […]
water
Pakistan vulnerable to seasonal water shortages, experts warn
Pakistan can currently store only about 30 days of river flow, leaving the country vulnerable to seasonal water shortages and sudden disruptions, experts have warned. They described the “weaponisation of water” as one of the gravest threats to the Indus Waters Treaty, a landmark agreement that has survived wars and decades of diplomatic tensions between […]
Pakistan to launch ‘first-ever’ water, sanitation database amid climate risks
Pakistan’s climate change ministry said on Tuesday it has kicked off work on the country’s “first-ever” National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Accounts to establish a unified national database for climate-resilient and sustainable delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services. Pakistan ranks among nations most vulnerable to climate change and has seen erratic changes in […]
Water under Siege
World Water Day arrived this year with Pakistan issuing a warning that should not be mistaken for ritual diplomacy. In his message on Sunday, President Asif Ali Zardari urged India to restore the full implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty and condemned what he called the “deliberate weaponisation of shared water resources”. His choice of […]
Punjab CM approves large-scale water storage project
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has ordered a grand crackdown against hoarders and profiteers involved in stockpiling petroleum products. On the directives of the chief minister, the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority has been mobilised across the province. Authorities have been instructed to take strict action against elements creating artificial shortages in order to […]
Water as a Weapon
The tragedy of the subcontinent did not conclude with the lowering of the Union Jack in August 1947; it merely entered a new and turbulent phase. No sooner had Pakistan emerged upon the map of the world than mistrust and hostility clouded its eastern horizon. The first test came almost instantly in the form of […]
Water as a Weapon: India’s Hydro-Aggression
Suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) had been on India’s agenda since 2001, when it first threatened Pakistan to revisit the treaty on the pretext of a terrorist attack on its Parliament House. All these years, India kept finding chances to revisit the treaty, using various excuses ever since. Indian authorities continuously built pressure […]
Hydro-Power or Hydro-Politics: The Perils of Weaponizing Water
On December 29, 2025, India marked another blow on the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) through the approval of the Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on the Chenab River in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). This move is highly condemned by Pakistan as a blatant violation of the spirit of the Indus Water Treaty of […]
Rawalpindi to face up to 50 percent cut in Rawal Dam water supply from Jan 1
Water supply from Rawal Dam to Rawalpindi will be reduced by up to 50 percent from January 1 to January 11, 2026, due to cleaning and repair work on the dam’s canal system. The decision was taken at a joint meeting of the Small Dam Organisation and the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Rawalpindi. Under […]
Water Politics
On Monday, India marked another blow to the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) by approving a new hydropower project on the Chenab River–an action that goes beyond the routine disputes that have long surrounded the agreement. Pakistan was quick to condemn this development as a blatant violation of the spirit of the 1960 treaty, pointing to […]