Pakistan, closely depending on the waters of the Indus basin, faces a acute threat of inadequate water storage after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) earlier this 12 months, in response to the Ecological Risk Report 2025.The report, launched by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a Sydney-based impartial and non-profit suppose tank, says the suspension provides India the flexibility to manage the westward circulate of the Indus and its tributaries into Pakistan. The transfer got here after India determined to place the treaty in abeyance as a punitive measure following the Pakistan-sponsored Pahalgam terror assault on April 22 this 12 months.This marks a significant setback for Pakistan, whose agriculture relies upon 80 per cent on the Indus River system. The report highlighted that Pakistan’s dams can at the moment maintain solely about 30 days of Indus circulate, leaving the nation extremely susceptible to disruptions.“Pakistan lacks ample storage to buffer variations,” the report warned, including, “If India have been really to chop off or considerably cut back Indus flows, Pakistan’s densely populated plains would face extreme water shortages, particularly in winter and dry seasons. Certainly, about 80 per cent of Pakistan’s irrigated agriculture is determined by Indus basin rivers.”Whereas India’s infrastructure limits its capability to fully cease river flows, even small disruptions might have “disastrous” short-term results on Pakistan’s farm sector.In Could, India carried out “reservoir flushing” operations on the Salal and Baglihar dams on the Chenab River with out notifying Pakistan. This course of, used to take away silt by draining reservoirs, had been restricted beneath the treaty because of the threat of sudden downstream modifications.The influence was quick: components of the Chenab River in Pakistan’s Punjab ran dry for a number of days when India shut the dam gates and later launched sediment-filled torrents upon reopening them.The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 and mediated by the World Financial institution, has lengthy acted as a key instrument for water-sharing and battle decision between the 2 nations. It governs using the Indus River and its six main tributaries — 5 on the left financial institution and one on the precise.