New Delhi: India has started major desilting operations last week at the Salal Dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir. This comes after the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan last year following the Pahalgam terror attack. The move allows India to carry out sediment management work that was not possible for decades due to treaty restrictions.
The Salal Hydroelectric Project (also known as Salal Power Station) is a 690 MW run-of-the-river hydropower plant operated by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). It is located on the Chenab River at Dhyangarh in the Reasi district of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The project supplies electricity to the Northern Grid, including Jammu and Kashmir and plays a key role in India’s hydropower infrastructure.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, signed between the Government of India and the Government of Pakistan, the two countries agreed to ensure the most complete and satisfactory utilisation of the waters of the Indus system of rivers.
The treaty was signed on September 19, 1960, in Karachi by Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, and Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan, under the mediation of the World Bank.
A subsequent bilateral agreement, signed on April 14, 1978, resolved differences over the design and operation of the Salal Project. Pakistan had objected since the early 1970s, arguing that features such as higher spillway gates, undersluice outlets for sediment flushing, and potential storage could allow India to manipulate or restrict downstream flows. Following technical discussions through the Permanent Indus Commission, the 1978 agreement permitted the project to proceed with modifications to guarantee unrestricted flow to Pakistan while adhering to the 1960 treaty’s limits on Western Rivers.
As part of the concessions, India agreed to limit spillway gates to 30 feet in height , prohibit an operating pool, cap dead storage at around 230,303 acre-feet, and permanently plug the six undersluice gates with concrete within a specified period after reservoir filling. The spillway’s immovable crest level was also restricted, and outlet works were sealed to prevent draw-down or flushing that could impact flows. While these changes enabled the 690 MW project to be commissioned in stages (1987 and 1995), they severely limited sediment management, leading to heavy silt accumulation in the reservoir over the years.
The dam was originally designed with six under-sluice gates at the base for sediment control and six silt-excluder gates to prevent silt entry. However, under the 1960 treaty and the 1978 agreement, the under-sluices were permanently plugged, and operation of the silt-excluder gates was prohibited. Without these facilities, silt steadily built up in the reservoir.
A bathymetric survey in May 2025 showed the original reservoir storage capacity of 284 million cubic meters (MCM) had dropped by up to 96 per cent to just 9.91 MCM. This heavy siltation hurt the power station’s efficiency.
After the treaty suspension, NHPC launched a silt-management plan. The goal is to improve operational efficiency, reduce wear and tear on equipment, and restore some storage capacity.
Speaking to the media Anish Gauraha, Executive Director of the Salal Power Station, said on February 22 “After the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty we are working on an effective sediment management plan to improve the operational efficiency of the power station.”
“It is difficult to say how much this will increase power generation, but it will certainly reduce wear and tear. Dredging is one of the key activities under the silt management plan. Through this, we aim to remove as much silt as possible to minimise damage. Plans are also being developed to reduce sediment through flushing,” Gauraha added.
He said that earlier, when the treaty was in effect, such measures were not allowed. For example, draw-down flushing for desilting and dredging were prohibited.
Dredging work began on November 25, 2025, after a no-objection certificate (NOC) was issued to Reach Dredging Limited, Kolkata. This company specialises in river engineering and uses portable dredgers. They got permission from the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Geology and Mining to dispose of silt.
As per the NHPC, 1.77 lakh metric tonnes (177,802 MT) of sediments have been dredged out, and 68,490 MT have been disposed of. Officials said that till now, 1.7 lakh MT of sediments have been dredged out and 68,490 MT disposed off
As a result of this work, the reservoir capacity has improved. It rose from 9.91 MCM in May 2025 to 14 MCM as of January 2026.
In another step, an NOC was issued on February 17, 2026, to Dharti Dredging and Infrastructure Limited, Mumbai. Statutory clearances are in process, and work will start soon after.
The silt management plan has three main parts: dredging, flushing, and under-sluicing.
For under-sluicing, a tender was floated on February 9, 2026, to make the six permanently plugged under-sluice gates operational again. The last date for bid submission is March 23. Work on this is underway.
Gauraha said “We have floated a tender to make the under-sluice gates operational, and work on that is underway.”
“For the third component, undersluicing, bids have been floated, and responses are being evaluated. A final decision is yet to be taken, but this is also an integral part of our sedimentation management strategy,” He noted.
Officials expect these steps to reverse the losses and damages to the Salal project. In the long run, the measures aim to increase the capacity of the reservoir and boost the power station to 694 MW.
This is the first time in decades that such large-scale sediment removal is happening at the Salal Dam. The treaty suspension has removed old restrictions and opened the way for better management of Himalayan river projects.
The desilting work is part of wider efforts on rivers covered under the treaty. It shows India’s focus on improving hydropower efficiency after the treaty was put in abeyance.
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