The Indus conundrum: when water is both a lifeline and a faultline

D o rivers have stories to tell? As he prepared to map the Chenab, “a river of diplomacy enshrined in the Indus Waters Treaty”, Danesh Rana was reminded of a Bashir Badr couplet: “ Agar fursat mile paani ki tahriron ko padh lena, har ek dariya haazaron saal ka afsana likhta hai . (If you get the time, do read the writing of the water. Every river writes a tale of thousand years.)”

In his memoir and travelogue, The Dark Coloured Waters (Juggernaut), Rana, who has served as an IPS officer in the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir, profiles the river with the help of myths, legends, anecdotes and photographs, including one of the highest railway bridges in the world across the Chenab in Reasi district. He also describes the state of the river post-the Pahalgam massacre when India suspen