Indus Water Treaty is an injustice to Rajasthan

India must revise the 1960-Indus Water Treaty.

The Indus Water Treaty of 1960 was an injustice to India as Rajasthan remains dry and arid due to this treaty. 

The Indus river system has six rivers - Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas and Satluj. According the treaty the water of three rivers - Indus, Chenab and Jhelum was allotted to Pakistan and the water of Ravi, Beas and Satluj was allotted to India. But, the three rivers allotted to India carry only 20% of water of total Indus river system and the three rivers allotted to Pakistan carry 80% of water volume of the total Indus river system. So, it was not as simple as seems that three rivers were allotted to India and three were allotted to Pakistan. But , the water volume was not considered. The size and population of both the countries were not considered. So, it is not a proportional water distribution. 

The Great Thar desert has an arid area of 2 lakh sq km out of which 85% areas is in India's Rajasthan. Rajasthan has no big river. So the sandy soils of Rajasthan lack phosphate and humus which is provided by a river arigation. wind erosion is also another problem in Rajasthan. But it is also same problem as the vegetation lack due to lack of water. 

Pakistan is unable to use the Indus water and the Indus river dumps a huge amount of unused water into arabian sea at Karachi. During heavy rains it brings floods in Pakistan and badly affects its population. The Indus river delta is also the reason of Sir Creek. The creek is volatile and highly dynamic which resulted into a border dispute between India and Pakistan and one of the reason in affecting Indo-Pak relations negatively.

All these problems are due to the unplanned and disproportionate Indus Water Treaty signed by India's first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru and Pakistan's president Ayub Khan with the sponsorships of The World Bank in 1960. So resolve all the problems, need to correct the problem in the treaty. Thus, need to revise the treaty. And it's not only beneficial for India but also for Pakistan equally.

Thus, now, the question is how to revise it. Some experts advise that India should use more water by divert the water. But, India is not using all the 20% water of Indus river system allotted to it. Some experts says that we can't divert the water as the natural slope is towards Pakistan. Even if we want to divert we need a highly expensive technology. But, there is a best solution. The solution again is the natural slope. If India and Pakistan really want to resolve all the above said issues, then they can revise the treaty as follows : 

India and Pakistan should agree to make a canal from Indus river near Jamal Dinwali in Pakistan to Tanot in Rajasthan as depicted in the picture. The distance between Jamal Dinwali to Rajasthan border is around 100 km. The canal route will be from Jamal Dinwali to Sadiqabad in Pakistan, then the canal will enter into India near Tanot, from Tanot to Ramgarh, Ramgarh to Jaisalmer and then Jaisalmer to Barmer. The world bank initially in 1960  agreed to fund the infrastructure infrastructure for Indus water system. So the world bank should fund the canal and being third party should help in revising the treaty in this way.

This is a win win situation for both India and Pakistan as it will solve many of their problems. For Pakistan it will solve their flood problem which brings huge economic loss for it. It will resolve the Sir Creek issue as very less water will left to go to the Karachi mouth. So the Creek will reduce and it will give clarity in deciding the border. The 15% part of The Great Thar desert is in Pakistan Sind province left side to the Indus river. The canal will irrigate this region. 

It will bring justice to India by providing the water back. The canal will irrigate the most dry and arid region of India which receives only 10 cm annual rainfall. The vegetation will grow and wind erosion will be reduced. The canal irrigation will bring the phosphate and humus and will make the soil productive. So, if the water can go to Pakistan through the natural slope, it can also come back to India through natural slope via this route. And , for the world good is that the natural resource will be utilised in the best way.

Thus, the revision of the Indus Water Treaty is crucial and required for both the countries. By revising in this way both the countries can resolve their many issues like converting a desert land into a fertile land and thus poverty alleviation.