Near-dry Chenab riverbed along Pak border stuns Jammu residents

With the Chenab river’s flow restricted due to the closing of sluice gates of the Baglihar dam, large crowds entered the nearly dried riverbed in the Akhnoor area, which is adjoining Pakistan.

The authorities have also shut the gates of Salal hydropower project in Reasi district, which is also built on the Chenab river. Both the projects are undergoing de-silting, as per the officials, who did not want to be identified.

However, insiders say gates of both the projects cannot be shut for a very long time due to a limited capacity of the reservoirs, it will have an impact on the flow of the Chenab river that goes into Pakistan and is used by the farmers in the neighbouring country.

The de-silting process earlier used to take place in August during the peak monsoon that did not let the riverbed dry due to inflow from many local nullahs into the river stream. However, as the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has been put in abeyance, India preponed the de-silting process at the projects without notifying Pakistan.

As the river recorded its lowest water level, a number of people who entered the riverbed were also seen searching for coins, and gold and silver ornaments. The stunned villagers claimed that the rived had never dried up in the past.

The police was immediately deployed to the spot, warning people to not cross the Chenab on foot and get away from the area.

It has been reliably learnt that the level of water in Chenab rose during the afternoon. While warning locals to move out of the area, the police said there had been rainfall in the catchment area that might have caused the rise in the water levels.

Sources said the water was flown through the tunnels of the Baglihar project to run turbines on Monday for generation of electricity that might have caused the rise in water level too.

Krishan Dev Sharma, 62, a local resident of Akhnoor, said it was for the first time that the water level of the Chenab had gone down to this extent. “I used to tell my grandchildren that the water of the Chenab never slows down. However, this is surprising that people are walking on the riverbed of the turbulent river,” Sharma said.

The dip in the water level of the Chenab has also left the local raft owners in a tizzy. A large number of tourists used to undertake rafting in Baradari of Reasi district, where at least 24 companies are registered for the water sport.

Gurjit Singh, who is the president of Rafting Operators Association of Reasi, said there were over 250 employees with 24 companies for rafting. “Most of the raft owners have taken loans for business and also have to pay salaries to the employees. They were not informed that the water level will go down, which directly impacted rafting in the region,” he said.

Singh called Pahalgam attack the first jolt to the business as the number of tourists had trickled down.