Arrogance Crushed? Pakistan Now Writing Letters To India – Here's The Real Reason

The flow of the Chenab River in Pakistan has decreased by up to 92% (Photo: X)

New Delhi: Pakistan is in the middle of a deepening water crisis – one of the worst in its history. With crops failing and dams running dry after India put the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance following April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, Islamabad now pleads with New Delhi to restore the agreement and resume water flow in Chenab River.

There is a drastic drop in the flow of the river, which originates in India and plays a crucial role in irrigating Pakistan’s breadbasket regions. According to experts, the flow from India under the Indus Waters Treaty has plunged by nearly 92%. It has triggered panic across Punjab and Sindh.

On May 29, the situation turned dire when the Chenab’s water flow – once at 98,200 cusecs – went down to a mere 7,200 cusecs. The current is now below what experts call the “dead level”, rendering canals ineffective. Over 40% of the kharif (summer) crops have already withered, and the rest are hanging by a thread.

Roughly 65 million people across Punjab and Sindh depend on this river for irrigation. With no relief in sight and rising fears of crop failures, farmer unions have warned of a march to Islamabad. Their anger is mounting not only over the water shortage but also the government’s failure to take concrete diplomatic steps with India.

Estimates from agricultural watchdog Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and the irrigation department suggest Pakistan has already suffered over Rs 4,500 billion in agricultural losses. Rainfall has been scarce. Groundwater levels are collapsing. Thousands of tube wells have run dry. The damage is no longer isolated, it is nationwide.

Water levels at key dams like Mangla have dipped below critical thresholds. Analysts are now warning that if the situation persists, the country could slide into a full-blown food crisis. With storage reservoirs nearly empty and no alternative sources available, time is running out.

Four Letters to India

In a bid to restore some normalcy, Pakistan has sent four formal letters to India, urging the resumption of water flows under the Indus Waters Treaty. One of these letters reportedly followed India’s recent ‘Operation Sindoor’. All the letters were sent by Pakistan’s Water Resources Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza to India’s Ministry of Jal Shakti, and subsequently routed to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Meanwhile, on the ground, farmers are openly ridiculing the government’s ‘Green Pakistan’ campaigns. “We do not want green brochures. We need green fields,” said one union leader from Punjab on the other side of the border. The sentiment is shared across rural belts, where glossy projects mean little if canals remain bone-dry.

As water taps dry and political pressure mounts, Pakistan is caught in a race against time – scrambling for solutions in a crisis that is slipping out of control.