Indus Waters Treaty projects in state to be expedited

New Delhi, November 25

India has decided to fast-track three projects, including the construction of two dams, to arrest the unutilised water of its share under the bilateral Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, government officials said.

The three projects include the Shahpur Kandi Dam project, Sutlej-Beas link in Punjab and the Ujh Dam project in J&K, they said.

“These projects were stuck in red tape and inter-state disputes. But it has been decided to expedite their execution,” an official said.

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, waters flowing in three of the Indus tributaries — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi — have been allotted to India, while the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus waters have been allotted to Pakistan.

Of the total 168-million acre feet, India’s share of water from the three allotted rivers is 33 million acre feet, which constitutes nearly 20 per cent.

“India uses nearly 93-94 per cent of its share under the Indus Waters Treaty. The rest of the water remains unutilised and goes to Pakistan,” the official added.

The Ujh Dam is a proposed hydroelectricity and irrigation multipurpose project in the Kathua district of Jammu over the Ravi, with a capacity to generate 196 MW of electricity. The total water utilisation from this project is 172.8 million cusec metre (mc), but it has the capacity to store 925 mc of water, the officials said. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 5,950 crore. The Jammu and Kashmir Government has forwarded the detailed project report to the Centre, which is expected to be approved by the advisory committee of the Ministry of Water Resources, they added.

After the Uri attack in Kashmir in September 2016, the government had sought to use the Indus Waters Treaty to put pressure on Pakistan. The measures included effectively using India’s share of waters that flow into Pakistan. This also included expediting irrigation and hydropower projects by resolving the inter-state disputes.

In September this year, the Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir Governments signed an agreement to resume works on the Rs 2,793-crore Shahpur Kandi project. Though the work on the project began in 2013, it was halted due to certain issues raised by Jammu and Kashmir.

The project, when implemented, will enable the upstream Ranjit Sagar Dam project power station to act as a peaking station, besides having its own generation capacity of 206 MW and irrigation benefit of 37,173 hectares to Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. — PTI

Stuck in red tape

• The three projects to be expedited include Ujh Dam project in J&K, Sutlej-Beas link in Punjab and the joint Shahpur Kandi Dam project. An official said the projects were stuck in red tape
• The Ujh Dam is a proposed Rs 5,950-cr hydroelectricity and irrigation multipurpose project in Kathua district over the Ravi, with a capacity to generate 196-MW power
• In September this year, the Punjab and J&K governments inked a pact to resume work on the Rs 2,793-cr Shahpur Kandi project, halted due to some issues raised by the state