India is set to resume construction of the long-stalled Wular barrage in Jammu and Kashmir, nine months after suspending the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam attack.
Officials said work on the project, aimed at regulating water storage from the Jhelum River, will restart shortly in coordination with the Centre.
The Wular barrage, also known as the Tulbul navigation project, has remained incomplete for nearly four decades. With India stating it no longer considers itself bound by the 1960 treaty brokered by the World Bank, authorities say there is no longer a requirement to seek Pakistan’s concurrence for construction on the western river system.
The decision has raised hopes among communities dependent on Wular Lake for their livelihoods. Low winter discharge in the Jhelum has left large areas of the lake dry, affecting fishing and other traditional activities. Storing water would help revive livelihoods around the lake.
Construction on the barrage and embankments was halted in 2012 after Pakistan-backed terrorists targeted the project site at Ningli in Sopore. Earlier attempts to build the barrage had also been stalled, first in 1989 due to militancy and again after work briefly resumed in 2010.
After suspending the treaty, India said it would stop the waters of the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers from flowing unhindered into Pakistan. The Wular barrage is seen as a key step toward maximising water use within Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly that the government is working with the Centre on two projects delayed by the treaty, including the Wular barrage and a lift water supply scheme from the Chenab River at Akhnoor to supply drinking water to Jammu city.
Pakistan has long opposed the project, arguing it could allow India to control Jhelum flows and cause flooding or drought downstream. Despite threats from Islamabad that stopping water would be treated as an act of war, India has said it will proceed and has also fast-tracked multiple hydroelectric projects on the Chenab River.