Pakistan on Wednesday conveyed its objections to the design of two water storage and hydropower projects undertaken by India on Chenab River in the first round of Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission talks.
The Indian delegation headed by Indian Water Commissioner P K Saxena was asked to reduce the height of 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48 MW Lower Kalnai hydropower plants by five metres, and to elevate gates of the spillway of Pakal Dul 40 metres above the sea level.
The ongoing round of talks on the two projects that ends on Thursday (today) is the seventh since 2013.
The nine-member Indian delegation had reached Pakistan via Wagah border a day earlier. The Pakistani delegation is headed by Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Meher Ali Shah.
Pakistan’s position that the two projects are in violation of the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty. It has maintained that the tunnel spillway of Pakal Dul should be raised closer to the dead storage level because its placement 40 metres below the dead storage level could allow draw down flushing, not permitted to India under the 1960 water treaty.
Pakal Dul Dam is a reservoir-based scheme currently under construction on river Marusudar, the main right bank tributary of Chenab River in Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir region. It is three times larger than Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project that Pakistan maintains has been built in violation of the treaty. The lower Kalnai project is on another tributary of the river. India had promised in March last year to modify the designs of the two projects and address Pakistan’s concerns but there was no progress on the matter afterwards as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Pakal Dul project in May this year. According to Indian media reports, the project is meant to provide 12 per cent free of cost electricity to India-held Jammu and Kashmir region.
Under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, waters of the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas and Ravi – had been allocated to India and the western rivers – the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab – to Pakistan, except for certain non-consumptive uses for India. Pakistan, India consider opening Kartarpur border crossing for Sikh festival: The two governments have reportedly resumed talks to open the Kartarpur border crossing. Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria visited the area on Wednesday where he was briefed about the Sikh holy place in Kartarpur, located about 13 kilometres east of Narowal and less than five kilometres from the border with India. On Monday, India’s Punjab Assembly passed a unanimous resolution to take up the issue of opening the border crossing for the 550th birthday celebrations of Guru Nanak.
Published in Daily Times, August 30th 2018.
