From treaty to terrain: why Indus waters haven’t fixed irrigation stress in J&K

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Rishu Goswami farms six acres of land in Bilawar, a village in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. Agriculture is his only income. For years, he has watched it rain at the wrong time.“It no longer rains as it used to,” he said.

“Either it rains when it is not needed, like during the crop-cutting season, or it does not rain when it is needed. This year, it did not rain when it was needed, but during wheat harvesting, it poured, and I suffered 40% losses.”A reliable water source is what farmers in Kathua need. However, "forget water for irrigation.

Many people in the outskirts of the district still walk two kilometres to get drinking water,” the 36-year-old said.Goswami’s situation highlights a gap that has persisted for more than six decades in Jammu and Kashmir, a Union territory where nearly 70% of the population depends on agriculture, directly or indirectly, yet whose irrigation system has seen little progress.In 1960, the state, according to a 2023 study, could irrigate 274,000 hectares of agricultural land. By 2020, that figure stood at 318,890 hectares, a rise of just 16% over more than six decades. Canal irrigation in Kashmir, the primary method, expanded by less than 4%.J&K's agriculture remains overwhelmingly rain-dependent despite the region’s river wealth.

Locals blame the Indus Waters Treaty.Signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan and brokered by the World Bank, the Indus Waters Treaty divided the six rivers of the Indus system between the two countries. India received full rights over the three eastern rivers: Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Pakistan received the three western rivers: Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, with India permitted limited, non-consumptive use.The arrangement has