Bharat Rakshak

India’s state-run power producer – the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) – is planning to start construction on three more power projects on Chenab River in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) soon after the Indian parliamentary elections are over.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, NHPC Chairman and Managing Director SK Garg said his organisation had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) and the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) for developing Pakal-Dul and two other hydroelectric projects in the Chenab River basin with aggregate installed capacity of 2,100 megawatts (MW) through a joint venture. “We signed the MoU with the JKSPDC and the PTC in October, 2008 for three projects of 2,100MW capacity. We (NHPC) and the JKSPDC have 49 percent stake each in the JV Company and two percent is held by the PTC,” Garg said. The work on the projects would start soon after the elections, as the IHK government could not approve tenders to award work due to the election code of conduct, he said.

“The corporation is also constructing Sewa-II (120MW) on Chenab and Uri-II (240MW) on Jhelum,” he said, adding that the Sewa project would be commissioned by October 2009.

The NHPC chairman said initial work on the 330MW Kishangaga project had begun, and the project would be completed by January 2016. He said the survey and investigation to state work on the 1,020MW Bursur project on Marusudar River, a tributary of the Chenab, was in the final phase. The proposed project is located approximately 80 kilometres from Kistwar town. The project consists of a 252-metre-high rock-fill dam. According to the project’s details, like Baglihar, Bursur is also a storage project in which the flow of water could be regulated not only to the benefit of the project but all downstream projects like Pakal Dul, Dul Hasti, Rattle, Baglihar, Sawalkot and Salal hydroelectric projects.
{TSP is going to be very upset.}
Due to this dam, the NHPC officials said power generation in the Chenab valley power stations will increase three-fold during October to April, and would thus mitigate the shortage of water in the river during the winter months.

AT long last, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has arranged finances for the 969-megawatt Neelum-Jhelum project and various financial institutions have also shown interest in funding Diamer-Basha dam.

As per provisions of the Treaty, if Pakistan manages to complete the Neelum-Jhelum project first, India would not have the right to divert the river flow, as it plans to do at present.

(iii) where a Plant is located on a Tributary of The Jhelum on which Pakistan has any Agricultural use or hydroelectric use, the water released below the Plant may be delivered, if necessary, into another Tributary but only to the extent existing Agricultural Use or hydroelectric use by Pakistan on the former Tributary would not be adversely affected.

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday that Pakistan would approach the World Bank (WB) to appoint a neutral arbiter to resolve the Kishanganga dispute with India.

“We have not received any satisfactory response to a letter written on Kishanganga by the Indus water commissioner to his Indian counterpart in March, and we are now in the process of considering the option of approaching the WB for a neutral expert,” FO spokesman Abdul Basit told at weekly briefing.

“Every project has its own nature ... India must not apply the decision in the Baglihar Dam dispute to the Kishanganga project.”

Gerard wrote:Pak accuses India of 'water terrorism'

He { Chairman Indus Water Council Pakistan and Coordinator World Water Assembly Zahoorul Hassan Dahir} was of the view that problems of terrorism, insurgency and Talibanisation have been created just to divert attention from Indian 'Water Terrorism'.

He said Indian Parliament has approved construction of 500 km long train track from Himachal Pradesh to Ladakh which would be utilised for transportation of construction material for Kargil dam and three other reservoirs being built on the Indus River.

He was of the view that due to Indian water aggression, matters have reached to a point where World Bank could not play effective role, therefore, International Court of Justice was proper forum for seeking justice.

SSridhar wrote:x-post from TSP thread.

He was of the view that due to Indian water aggression, matters have reached to a point where World Bank could not play effective role, therefore, International Court of Justice was proper forum for seeking justice.

SSridhar wrote:x-post from TSP thread.

Gerard wrote:Pak accuses India of 'water terrorism'

SSridhar wrote:Pakistan files its claims before UN Convention on Laws of the Seas

Pakistan’s continental shelf, or sea-water limits, will be extended from 200 to 350 nautical miles provided no nation objects within a week.

‘No country has challenged our claim for an additional 150 nautical miles into the sea,’ said the federal minister for Science and Technology, Azam Khan Swati

HYDERABAD, May 23: Federal Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that Kalabagh Dam project has been scrapped and that he is making this statement with authority.

He was talking to journalists at a rest house here on Saturday after addressing a workers’ gathering.

“Kalabagh Dam project has been scrapped and I am making this statement as minister of water and power. The government has rejected this project,” he said when his attention was drawn to a statement of Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali that Kalabagh Dam project had not been scrapped.

The power minister didn’t answer when pressed why Mr Aseff had made such a statement while talking to journalists after the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) meeting in Islamabad.

He said that all power projects of Wapda were on time and the shortfall of 3,500 megawatts of electricity would soon be overcome.

He said that 165 megawatts of electricity had been made available and the prime minister would soon inaugurate a 235 megawatts power house in Lahore.

Around 3,000 to 3,500 megawatts of electricity had been injected into the system through improvement in supplies of oil and gas, Pervez Ashraf said. Wapda has managed to upgrade its system.”

He said that out of Rs185 billion, Rs85 billion had been paid by the government towards outstanding dues of Pepco against power distribution companies.

The remaining amount was being cleared through circular debt by the government, he said, adding that the government felt relatively comfortable this year as far as power crisis was concerned. He disagreed with a questioner who quoted Federal Labour Minister Syed Khursheeid Shah as saying that load-shedding won’t end by December this year.

“His (Shah’s) statement has been made somewhat spicy in media,” he said, pledging that load-shedding would come to an end by December.

He said that Wapda was opting for hydropower generation in addition to solar, solid-waste and windmill energy. He said that steam energy was also being worked out and a contract had been signed with a Turkish firm.

The minister said that the government intended to ensure electricity for tube-wells and streetlights through solar energy.

About Thar coal, he said the government would go for international competitive biddings and best companies would be chosen for the project because there were several companies based in South Korea, China and Australia which had shown interest in the project. Through energy conservation, he said, 1,000 megawatts of electricity had been saved.

Vivek_A wrote:Kalabagh dam scrapped: minister
By M. Hussain Khan
Sunday, 24 May, 2009 | 07:04 AM PST

NEW DELHI: The Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) government is planning to build a water tunnel in Kathua district to draw water from the Ravi river to provide irrigation facilities to 133,000 acres of land besides generating 35 megawatts of power. A proposal will soon be placed before the IHK cabinet in Srinagar to build the tunnel at Satwai village within four years. iftikhar gilani

Complaining of violations of the Indus Water Treaty, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Abdul Basit on Saturday said India should honour the treaty in its true letter and spirit.

Talking to the state-run TV channel, the FO spokesman said a Pakistani delegation led by Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah was on a three-day visit to India to convey Pakistan’s concerns about the Kishan-Ganga project and inequitable water distribution. He said the delegation would lay emphasis on fair distribution of water.

Jammu and Kashmir government has said that there was no point in compensating Pak for its claims as it has not violated the Indus water treaty in the first place.

With the Indus Water Commission meeting in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the compensation demanded by Pakistan for the damage to its crops in view of the obstruction in flow of the river Chenab due to filling of water in Baglihar dam, Jammu and Kashmir government said that there was no point in compensating the neighbouring country as it has not violated the Indus water treaty.

Jammu and Kashmir's Power Secretrary Sundeep Nayak said, “we have not violated the Indus water treaty so there was no point in compensating Pakistan for damages claimed by it.”

He said that the construction of the Baglihar power project was in accordance with the Indus water treaty agreement and there was no violation of the World Bank brokered treaty.

“Pakistan had earlier also raised objections but the World Bank gave its decision in our favour. It had earlier raised objections that the dam height was obstructing the flow of water to the neighbouring country.”

However this time Pakistan has demanded that it should be compensated for the crop loss for choking the flow of Chenab water into the country. The three day long meeting of the Indus Water Commission is being held in New Delhi to discuss the issue and is the first such meeting between India and Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks.

Power Secretrary Sundeep Nayak said “We have the same dam for both the phases of Baglihar power project and Pakistan government and there is no point that the dam is choking the flow of Chenab. Our representative is attending the meeting of Indus water commission tomorrow and we will present our case before it.”

One good signal came when our Indus Waters Commissioner Mr Jamaat Ali Shah left for India last week for talks with his counterpart. Reported in Nawa-e-Waqt (May 31, 2009), Indus Waters Treaty Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah, while leaving for New Delhi to talk about waters shared by India and Pakistan, said that Pakistan was getting its share of waters under the Indus Treaty and that building a dam was the right of India. He said less water in Pakistani rivers was because of lack of rain, not because India had blocked it.

Gerard wrote:link

One good signal came when our Indus Waters Commissioner Mr Jamaat Ali Shah left for India last week for talks with his counterpart. Reported in Nawa-e-Waqt (May 31, 2009), Indus Waters Treaty Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah, while leaving for New Delhi to talk about waters shared by India and Pakistan, said that Pakistan was getting its share of waters under the Indus Treaty and that building a dam was the right of India. He said less water in Pakistani rivers was because of lack of rain, not because India had blocked it.

Gerard wrote:link

..................... Indus Waters Treaty Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah, ......................... said that Pakistan was getting its share of waters under the Indus Treaty and that building a dam was the right of India. He said less water in Pakistani rivers was because of lack of rain, not because India had blocked it.

Pak’s foreign office and Indus Water Committee differ over water issues

May 31st, 2009 - 2:03 pm ICT by ANI Lahore/Islamabad, May 31 (ANI):

Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah and the Foreign Office seems to have different opinions over the water issues with India.

Talking to media persons before leaving for New Delhi to hold talks on the Kishanganga Dam project, Shah said there have been no violation of the agreement on Ranbir and Partap Canals on part of India, and that it could continue construction of dams on the rivers.

He added that Pakistan was not going to International Court of Justice on the Kishanganga Dam project, as was reported recently.

However, the Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit claimed that there have been many complaints about the violations of treaty by New Delhi. …………...............

LINK

Gerard wrote:link

..................... Indus Waters Treaty Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah, ......................... said that Pakistan was getting its share of waters under the Indus Treaty and that building a dam was the right of India. He said less water in Pakistani rivers was because of lack of rain, not because India had blocked it.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Pakistan takes up water compensation issue with India

NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Monday discussed with India compensation for the 200,000 cusecs it lost after India stopped the water flow to fill its newly built Baglihar Dam on Chenab River in Indian-held Kashmir. Led by Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah, ……………………

APP via Daily Times

Vipul wrote:Has India filed an objection to Pakistan’s claim for extension in its continental shelf from 200 nautical miles to 350 nautical miles to United Nations Commission?

ramana wrote:Most likely India will follow suit.

Talking to media in Islamabad on his return from India, Shah said the issue of the Kishanganga project came under discussion at the request of India but no progress could be made.

Indian and Pakistani officials had on Friday approved, after strenuous negotiations, the minutes of the annual Permanent Indus Commission meeting.

Though the meeting concluded on Wednesday, there were serious disagreements on the wording, content and notes of discussions.

Pakistan had raised the issue of compensation for the choking of 200,000 cusecs of water in the Chenab by New Delhi in August, 2008, to fill up the newly-constructed Baglihar dam in Indian-held Kashmir.

Pakistan claimed it had suffered bad crops due to minimal water inflows. India has rejected the charge, citing hydrological data.

Shah said Pakistan had the option of approaching the World Bank in case India continues to reject Pakistan’s stance under the Indus Water Treaty.

An official at India’s Ministry of Water Resources said there has never been an agreement on issues like water compensation, Kishanganga and Uri-II. He said "Pakistan has assumed that India has held back water. But we have told them that this assumption is not correct as last year’s flow of water (in the Chenab) was low anyway".

Will try again: Shah said a second round of talks between Pakistan and India on the commissioner level would be held in October in Pakistan.

RajeshA wrote:‘Rice exports expected to cross $2bn during FY09’: Daily Times

Now why can't we control the Indus River System water throughput, so that during the crucial rice planting season, there is a paucity of water. Less foreign exchange means less military hardware to shoot at Indians.

The reference to untapped potential holds out the prospect of a potential expansion in areas of bilateral discussion, including those like water which Pakistan is deeply concerned about, provided conducive conditions are created for the resumption of the peace process.

arun wrote:
India has followed suit. She filed her submission with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on May 11th, 2009.

The submission is available here:

Indus Waters Commissioner informed the meeting that adequate arrangements had been made for receiving from India up-to-the-minute flood flow data of rivers crossing over into Pakistan from the neighbouring country.

The chairman of the commission described in considerable detail the collaborative arrangements made for effective management of floodwaters.