According to the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India uses water of _______ rivers.

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — option (3), 'Sutlej, Beas, Ravi'. The Indus Waters Treaty, signed by India and Pakistan on 19 September 1960 with the World Bank as a facilitating party, divides the six rivers of the Indus system into two groups. The three Eastern Rivers — the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi — were allocated for India's unrestricted use, meaning India may use their waters for irrigation, storage and power generation largely without the design and operating restrictions the treaty imposes elsewhere. The three Western Rivers — the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab — were allocated principally to Pakistan, with India retaining limited rights over them for domestic use, non-consumptive uses, and certain agricultural and run-of-the-river hydroelectric purposes, subject to detailed technical criteria set out in the treaty's annexures. Because the question asks specifically which rivers India uses under the treaty in the primary, unrestricted sense, the answer is the three Eastern Rivers — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi — matching option (3).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Correctly includes two of the three Eastern Rivers, Sutlej and Ravi, but wrongly substitutes the Indus itself for the third Eastern River, Beas. The Indus is one of the three Western Rivers, allocated principally to Pakistan, with India holding only the treaty's limited, restricted rights over it — not the same unrestricted use it has over the Eastern Rivers.  (b) Names only one genuine Eastern River, Ravi, alongside two Western Rivers, Jhelum and Indus, both of which are allocated principally to Pakistan under the treaty, with India's rights over them limited and restricted rather than unrestricted.  (d) Names only one genuine Eastern River, Ravi, alongside two Western Rivers, Chenab and Indus, both allocated principally to Pakistan. India's use of the Chenab and Indus under the treaty is limited to specific, restricted purposes, not the unrestricted use it enjoys over the Eastern Rivers.

Concept: The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 resolved the division of the six-river Indus basin system between India and Pakistan by splitting the rivers into two groups rather than sharing every river's flow. The three Eastern Rivers — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi — were given to India for essentially unrestricted use. The three Western Rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — were given principally to Pakistan, with India retaining carefully limited rights: for domestic and non-consumptive use, for agriculture within specified limits, and for generating hydroelectric power through run-of-the-river projects that must meet detailed design criteria set out in the treaty's technical annexures, precisely so that India cannot use its upstream position to materially alter the water's timing or quantity reaching Pakistan.

State PCS 2025 Q94 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q94 — Geography PYQ with Answer