India has released three flood warnings to Pakistan this week due to the rising Tawi river, following heavy rains that compelled water to be released from dams, officials added. The notices were dispatched on humanitarian grounds despite suspending regular data exchange under the Indus Waters Treaty to avoid loss of life and property on the other side.
The warnings, forwarded to Islamabad by the Ministry of External Affairs, were made on “humanitarian grounds”, the sources added.
The first warning was made on Monday.
“We issued another warning yesterday (Tuesday) and one today (Wednesday) of high chances of flooding at the Tawi river. The gates of certain dams had to be opened because heavy rains were being experienced in Indian territories,” a source stated.
The Tawi river is a Himalayan river which flows through the Jammu division and joins the Chenab in Pakistan.
India halted the regular exchange of hydrological information with Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty following the deaths of 26 individuals, including tourists, in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 due to a terrorist attack by Pakistan.
While suspending the weather forecast, the new flood warnings were issued to prevent loss of life and property across the border, the sources added.
In Punjab, Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers and seasonal rivulets are in spate due to heavy rain in their catchment areas.
Jammu also experienced relentless rain, leading to rivers breaching their banks.
As water levels were rising perilously, the authorities had no option but to release the sluice gates of main reservoirs, the sources said.
Signed in 1960 with the mediation of the World Bank, the Indus Waters Treaty has been the regulator of river waters’ division between India and Pakistan.
