ISLAMABAD (APP): Chairman Indus River System Authority (IRSA), Rao Irshad Ali Khan on Wednesday said presently India does not have capacity to block and manage Indus river water flowing into Pakistan.

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“Rivers do not carry a small quantity of water. Big dams are needed to consume the river water, which India does not have, so it is not in a position to immediately block substantial quantity of Indus water, flowing into Pakistan,” he told APP while commenting on Indian threats to revoke the 56-year Indus Water Treaty.

Answering a question, the Chairman said currently India could only stop the water for just two to three days by diverting the Indus river flow to its hydel dams, which have the capacity to store 5,000 to 10,000 acre feet of water.

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But, before diverting the water towards its hydel reservoirs, India would have to release the already stored thousands of acre feet water, he said, adding that India could play a trick on Rivers Chenab and Jhelum by curtailing 5,000 acre feet water.

According to the Treaty, Pakistan has unrestricted access to three rivers including Jhelum, Chenab and the Indus. For its part, India was allocated unrestricted access to three eastern rivers Ravi, Sutlej and Beas.

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Replying to another question, he said, “Both Pakistan and India are bound to Indus Water Treaty, which is successfully continuing for last 56 years, under guarantee of World Bank. As per treaty, no signatory can violate any clause of treaty unilaterally.”

Commenting on Dispute Resolution Mechanism, the Chairman said there existed a dispute resolution clause in the treaty, adding that first a dispute was taken to Commissioners, if not resolved, the two governments hire services of neutral experts, and then to international court of arbitration.

He said both Pakistan and India had several times approached international court of arbitration to get relief.

In reply to another query, he dispelled the impression saying that so far India neither blocked Pakistan’s water nor it released additional water which could cause any flash-floods in Pakistani areas. “Addition of rain water in rivers, do not mean that India has released any additional water in rivers flowing into Pakistan,” he said.

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Meanwhile, experts were of the view China can block River Indus and River Brahmaputra as they both originate from there. Beijing is not under any obligation to let rivers flow as the country has not signed an international water sharing agreement.

If China came in Pakistan’s support, and diverted the flow of River Indus, India could lose 36 percent of river water. Additionally, China also has the option of stopping the flow of Brahmaputra river into India. The Brahmaputra feeds millions in India and Bangladesh. China is building 11 mega dams on it and is in a position to hurt India’s interests. Blocking flow of Indus would also cause floods in Occupied Kashmir and Punjab in India.

Violating an international treaty backed by the World Bank, would invite condemnation from across globe putting India under immense pressure.