First contact since Op Sindoor: India warns Pak of Tawi floods, but says IWT still in abeyance

In the first known official communication since the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was put in abeyance after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India has alerted Pakistan of a potential flood in Tawi and Chenab rivers due to heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources told The Tribune that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad conveyed the warning through diplomatic channels rather than the Indus Waters Commission, as mandated under the IWT of 1960. “The message was sent through diplomatic channels, and not under the treaty framework,” an official said, stressing the move was “purely on humanitarian grounds, and not a resumption of the IWT protocols”.

The flood alert from India comes as Pakistan witnesses one of its deadliest monsoon rains, with a death toll of 800.

Putting the treaty in abeyance after the massacre of 26 persons by Pakistani terrorists was among the series of punitive measures initiated by India against Pakistan.

Confirming receipt of the message, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO), according to local media reports, said India’s warning was routed through diplomatic channels. It insisted that the communication it should have been transmitted through the Indus Waters Commission, as mandated by the 1960 treaty.

After the Pahalgam attack, India has not shared flood forecast or river flow data with Pakistan.

The Tawi, a tributary of Chenab, originates from the mountainous Doda district and manoeuvres through the Jammu city before entering the plains of Sialkot in Pakistan.

The water in the river reached a dangerous level on Sunday and Monday after which the police asked the locals not to venture near it. The Tawi generally runs dry during the summer season, but suddenly swells in the monsoon.

The sluice gates of run-of–the-river Baglihar dam (can hold 475 million cubic metres of water) on the Chenab in Ramban had been thrown open due to continuous rains, said an official. The Baglihar and Salal dam (another run-of-the-river project in Reasi) gates were shut after the IWT was put in abeyance.

Under the IWT, the western rivers--Indus, Jhelum and Chenab-- were allocated to Pakistan and the eastern rivers--Ravi, Beas and Sutlej--to India, while permitting limited use by the other side. India is entitled to about 20 per cent of the Indus basin waters, with the remaining 80 per cent flowing to Pakistan.

The continued suspension of hydrological data has, in recent months, created uncertainty for Islamabad, complicating the management of water levels in its reservoirs.