ISLAMABAD: A sudden surge in the Jhelum river’s water level has thrown Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) into chaos, as India, local authorities claimed, released water from the Uri Dam without prior warning on Saturday.
The abrupt discharge triggered a water emergency in PoK’s Hattian Bala district, forcing residents along the riverbanks to flee to safer ground.
The move escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, with Pakistani authorities condemning it as a violation of international norms and the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). India suspended the IWT on April 23 citing the terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed by terrorists.
Local officials in Muzaffarabad, PoK’s capital, and Chakoti sounded alarms through loudspeakers, urging communities to evacuate as water levels rose rapidly. “We had no warning. The water came rushing in, and we’re struggling to protect lives and property,” said Muhammad Asif, a resident of Dumel, a village on the riverbank in PoK.
A district government official in Muzaffarabad issued a brief statement advising citizens to stay away from locations close to the Jhelum river. “Due to India releasing more water than usual into the Jhelum river, there is moderate flooding,” added the spokesperson.
Moderate flooding has been reported in low-lying regions of Kohala and Dhalkot, with unconfirmed reports of livestock losses and damage to crops.
The PoK govt has accused India of deliberate “water terrorism”, pointing to the lack of prior notification as a breach of the IWT, a 1960 agreement brokered by the World Bank to regulate shared river waters. The treaty mandates that both nations share information on water releases to prevent downstream harm.
In PoK, officials said, the immediate focus remains on protecting residents. The Hattian Bala administration has set up temporary shelters and mobilised rescue teams. “We’re doing all we can, but the scale of this crisis is overwhelming,” said district commissioner Bilal Ahmed.
Authorities have also urged residents to avoid riverbanks and refrain from fishing or grazing livestock near the water. Across the border, India officials have remained tight-lipped, neither confirming nor denying the release. Some Indian media outlets, however, claim the discharge was a routine dam operation necessitated by heavy rainfall in Jammu and Kashmir.
