Fishermen hunting with nets in Pakistan

Fishermen throw fishing nets into the shallow water of the Indus. Speculation surrounds India's intention to build a dam limiting the water flow to Pakistan. Hyderabad, Pakistan. 05/02/2010.

The Indus is a strategically vital resource for Pakistan's economy and society. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, the use of the waters of the Indus and its five eastern tributaries became a major dispute between India and Pakistan. The irrigation canals of the Sutlej valley and the Bari Doab were split - with the canals lying primarily in Pakistan and the headwork dams in India disrupting supply in some parts of Pakistan.

The concern over India building large dams over various Punjab rivers that could undercut the supply flowing to Pakistan, as well as the possibility that India could divert rivers in the time of war, caused political consternation in Pakistan. Holding diplomatic talks brokered by the World Bank, India and Pakistan signed the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960. The treaty gave India control of the three easternmost rivers of the Punjab, the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi, while Pakistan gained control of the three western rivers, the Jhelum, the Chenab and the Indus. India retained the right to use of the western rivers for non irrigation projects.

Nowadays Indus River (Sindh River) is likely to be empty because of India’s aggressive policy against Pakistan and due to this fishermen are critically disturbed and trying to hunt the fishes under the canal flow.