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| Pak to inspect Baglihar before commissioning | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Oct 4: Ahead of the formal launch of prestigious 450 MW Baglihar hydro-electric power project on river Chenab, possibly later this month, India’s Indus Water Commission has allowed its Pakistani counterparts for an inspection.
A phase of Baglihar project has been successfully tested and is up for formal commissioning. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to commission the project if the tentative schedule of his launching Srinagar-Muzaffarabad truck service on October 21 stands.
Meanwhile, ahead of the formal launch of project, reports said India has allowed Pakistan to inspect the Baglihar dam that has been at the centre of a spat between the two countries over the sharing of river waters.
Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Jamat Ali Shah on Saturday said in Islamabad that he had received an invitation on phone and in writing from his Indian counterpart to inspect the dam.
However, Pakistan also wants a simultaneous meeting of the Permanent Commission on Indus Waters to discuss the issue, Shah told reporters in Islamabad. He said that he planned to visit India in the third or fourth week of October to carry out the inspection.
Shah said that India is allowed to construct run-of-water hydroelectric plants and "limited storage works" on western rivers like the Jhelum, Chenab and Indus under the Indus Waters Treaty signed by the two countries in 1960.
The storage facilities can be filled between June and August provided the flow in Pakistan is not reduced below 55,000 cusecs. However, Shah alleged that the flow in the Chennab went down to 20,000 cusecs when the Baglihar dam was filled and Pakistan had lodged a protest.
Pakistani officials have accused India of causing "colossal losses" to crops while storing water in the Baglihar dam in violation of the Indus Water Treaty, a charge denied by New Delhi. Islamabad has also sought compensation.
Pakistani experts say that the impact of the Baglihar dam will be felt in the month of February every year when Pakistan direly needs water as flows from glaciers reduce substantially due to a drop in temperature.
President Asif Ali Zardari had taken up the water issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and conveyed Pakistan's reservations over the Baglihar dam. Singh said that India would address Pakistan's concerns. |
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