Islamabad:
Floods in Pakistan from the water flowed downstream of India were worsened by the suspension of New Delhi of a river exchange treaty and the collapse of the doors in an Indian flood, Pakistani officials said on Friday.
The rains of the torrential monsoon devastated the adversaries of neighboring India and Pakistan this week, with a more intense forecast for this weekend.
On Friday, in eastern Pakistan, the waters of the flood reached the outskirts of the second largest city in the country, Lahore, and threatened to immerse themselves in the main city of Jhang, in the worst floods in almost 40 years in that part of the country.
The nations share rivers that originate in India and flow to Pakistan, regulated for more than six decades under the Treaty of Indo’s waters.
That agreement was suspended by India this year, after the shooting of 26 people for militants that New Delhi said they were backed by Islamabad, which Pakistan denies.
Planning Minister Ahsan IQBAL told Reuters that the data on water flows that used to be shared by India under the treaty had not passed Pakistan quick enough or in sufficiently detail.
“We could have achieved better if we had better information,” Iqbal said. “If the Indo Water Treaty was in operation, we could have mitigated the impact.”
The middle section of Madhopur Barge, which covers the Ravi River in India, was dragged by the increase of water and videos transmitted by the Indian media on Thursday.
Pakistani officials said that this damage unleashed an un controlled flow through the border, flooding some parts of Lahore on Friday.
A source from the Indian government denied that there had been some deliberate attempt to flood Pakistan, while confirming that two doors of Madhopur Barge had broken.
The Indian authorities were trying to stop the flow in the Ravi River, despite the damage to the flood, and the flow was being controlled by the Ranjit Sagar upstream, the source said, who refused to be identified, citing government policy.
“India is doing what can be done and all the information is being transmitted,” said the source. “The incessant rain is causing this flood.”
The Ministries of Foreign and Water Resources of India did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the registration. India sent four flood alerts to Islamabad since Sunday, according to Pakistani officials, including a warning on Friday.
New Delhi acknowledges transmitting warnings, for humanitarian reasons, but has not provided details.
When India put the 1960 treaty in suspense, she stopped the exchange of information among water officials. Instead, warnings were sent this week through the Indian embassy in Islamabad.
Iqbal, whose Nanowal’s own constituency, near the Indian border, was very flooded, said that climate change had made the annual monsoon less predictable, which makes it more vital to share data.
“Climate change is not a bilateral problem,” Iqbal said. “It relates to humanity.”
