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| Chenab water talks today | | | AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, Oct 22: Pakistan, which has accused India of blocking Chenab river water flow, is expected to seek compensation for it when officials of the two countries meet here tomorrow to discuss the issue.
Indus Water Commissioner G Ranganathan will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Jamaat Ali Shah to discuss ways in which such controversies could be averted.
Pakistan has alleged that India had blocked flow of Chenab river water to fill the dam for the recently- commissioned Baglihar power project in Jammu and Kashmir and claimed that it had affected cultivation in that country.
India has rejected any deliberate act and said the flow was less because of low availability of water in the river.
Shah and his delegation visited Baglihar project on Monday for on-the-spot assessment of the water situation.
Sources said the Pakistani side is expected to seek compensation for low water flow.
The Pakistani side says that there was an understanding between the two countries that the dam would be filled between June 21 and August 21, when Monsoon would have been at its peak.
This, however, did not happen as Baglihar project got delayed and the dam could be filled only after August 19 when the Monsoon season was towards its end.
Pakistan says it should get at least 55,000 cusecs of water but was only getting 30,000 to 35,000 cusecs on an average, the sources said.
Under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty between the two countries, Pakistan has the exclusive right over Chenab river.
The 450 MW Baglihar project on river Chenab, which was caught in a prolonged tussle between India and Pakistan before World Bank gave a go-ahead for its construction over a year ago, was commissioned over a week ago by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari warned last week that the issue could "damage ties" between the two countries.
"Due to choking of water supply in Chenab following the storage of water in the dam at Baglihar, the farm sector in Pakistan has been hit," Shah said during his visit to the site on Monday.
A report would be prepared and submitted to the Pakistani government, he said adding farmers in his country had complained of water scarcity in Chenab.
Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Commissioner Sandeep Naik said "we have not violated the Indus Water Treaty. We are committed to it." |
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