China Suspected of Halting Sutlej River Flow to India, Satellite Data Reveals 75% Drop

Beijing: The Indus Water Treaty, which divides rivers between India and Pakistan, has been in the news in recent days. After the Pahalgam terrorist attack, India has suspended the Indus Treaty and has talked about stopping the water going to Pakistan. Pakistan has threatened India with war if the water is stopped. Amidst this tension, questions have arisen about the water India gets from China. Dr. Y Nityanand has indicated that China is silently stopping the water of the Sutlej river coming to India.

According to the report of Business Today, geospatial researcher and former NASA station manager Dr. Y Nityanand has done research on the data of Sutlej water flow received from satellite. The data shows that there has been a huge decrease in the water of the Sutlej river in India. This reduction in the flow of water is happening before the river enters the Indian border from Tibet.

China is stopping India's water!

Nityanand has told on X that the amount of water coming to India from the Sutlej river has reduced by more than 75 percent in the last five years. The amount of water coming to India in the Sutlej has reduced from 8,000 gigalitres to 2,000 gigalitres in the past years. Sharing the data, he has asked whether China is controlling the water coming to India.

There can be two important reasons for this huge reduction in the water coming to India in the Sutlej. First - China has changed the flow of water and second - this reduction in water has happened due to natural reasons. The second reason is less likely because climate data shows that glaciers in the Himalayas are melting rapidly. In such a situation, the flow of the river should increase instead of decreasing.

China has built big dams in Tibet

China has built dams and hydropower infrastructure in Jada Gorge in Tibet. This has increased China's technical capability so much that it can control the water received by India. There is no formal agreement on water sharing between India and China. The agreement related to data sharing also ends in 2023. In such a situation, China is not obliged to give information to India on the water of Sutlej.

There is no public evidence that China is deliberately reducing the water, but India's concern has definitely increased due to China's lack of control capacity and agreements. Sutlej river originates from Tibet and comes to India. This river originates near Rakshastal Lake in Tibet and enters Himachal Pradesh through Shipki La pass.