Islamabad:
Floods in Pakistan from water flowing downstream from India were exacerbated by New Delhi’s suspension of a river sharing agreement and the collapse of the gates on an Indian barrier, Pakistani officials said Friday.
Torrential Monsoon Rains ravaged the nearby opponents of India and Pakistan this week with further heavy rainfall forecast for this weekend.
On Friday, in eastern Pakistan, flooding water hit the outskirts of the country’s second largest city, Lahore, and threatened to immerse the big city of Jhang, in the worst flood of almost 40 years in that part of the country.
The nations share rivers that originate from India and flow into Pakistan, regulated for more than six decades under the Indus Waters Treaty.
This agreement was suspended by India this year after the shooting of 26 people by militants, as New Delhi said was supported by Islamabad, which Pakistan denies.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal told Reuters that data on water currents used to be shared by India during the Treaty had not gone to Pakistan fast enough or in sufficient details.
“We could have managed better if we had better information,” Iqbal said. “If the Indus Waters Treaty was in operation, we could have mitigated the effect.”
The middle part of Madshopur Barrage, which spans the Ravi River in India, was washed away by rolling water, showed video broadcast by Indian media on Thursday.
Pakistani officials said this damage released an uncontrolled stream across the border and flooded some parts of Lahore Friday.
An Indian government source denied that there had been some deliberate attempt to flood Pakistan while confirming that two gates of food hopur barrier had been broken.
Indian authorities tried to cushion the current on the Ravi River despite the damage to the barrier, and the current was controlled by the Ranjit Sagar Dam upstream, the source, who refused to be identified, said, citing government policy.
“India does what can be done and all information is passed on,” the source said. “Considerable rain causes this flood.”
India’s Foreign and Water Resource Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the mail. India sent four flood alarms to Islamabad since Sunday, according to Pakistani officials, including a warning Friday.
New Delhi acknowledges to pass on warnings on humanitarian grounds, but has not provided details.
When India put the Treaty of 1960 in accordance, it stopped the division of information between water officials. Instead, warnings were sent this week through India’s Embassy in Islamabad.
Iqbal, whose own constituency in Narowal, near the Indian border, was poorly flooded, said climate change had made the annual monsoon less predictable, making it more important to share data.
“Climate change is not a bilateral question,” Iqbal said. “It concerns humanity.”
