Centre plans extension of Ranbir canal on Chenab to maximise water use after Indus Treaty suspension

The government is considering plans to increase the length of the Ranbir canal on the Chenab river as part of its efforts to maximise the use of water that India will get after putting the in abeyance following the Pahalgam attack, officials said.

Till now, India has been using limited water from Chenab, mostly for irrigation, but by putting the treaty in abeyance now there is scope of expanding its use, especially in power generation sector to meet the energy demands, a senior official said.

India is planning to enhance its current hydropower capacity of around 3,000 megawatts on the rivers that were earlier being used by Pakistan and a feasibility study in this regard is planned, the official said.

"One of the major plans are enhancing the length of the Ranbir canal to 120 km," the official said, adding that as building of the infrastructure requires time, "all stakeholders have been urged to expedite the process".

Moreover, the process of desilting has also started on Kathua, Ravi and Paragwal canals, the official said.

Brokered by the World Bank in 1960, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) governed the distribution and use of the Indus river and its tributaries between India and Pakistan.

But India decided to suspend the treaty after the Pahalgam attack and has since then maintained that the treaty will remain suspended "until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism".

The river system comprises the Indus -- the main river -- and its tributaries. The Ravi, Beas and Sutlej are collectively referred to as the eastern rivers while the Indus, Jhelum and the Chenab are known as the western rivers.