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| NHPC standoff- Srivastava to meet Omar on June 30 | | NHPC contemptuous towards local laws: Taj | | Bashir Assad
Srinagar, June 15: Amid escalating tensions between the two, NHPC chairman has sought appointment with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to find some middle ground to defuse the situation.
Sources told Early Times that chairman of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) ABL Srivastava has sought appointment with the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Sources said though Chief Minister was at first reluctant to give audience to Srivastava, however, latter he agreed to meet the former and a meeting has been fixed for June 30.
However, it has been reliably learnt that Omar is likely to ensure presence of Minister for PHE and Irrigation, Taj Mohiuddin in the meeting as the latter has been spearheading the campaign against plundering of water resources by NHPC . As the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram earlier this week had a telephonic conversation with Mr. Taj and offered to facilitate a meeting between the Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to arrive at some decision.
The state government has been accusing NHPC of not implementing the cabinet decision No. 158/15 dated 4-10-2000 guaranteeing employment of locals in the projects being constructing by NHPC.
However, sources averred, that issue of providing employment to the locals is of secondary nature, the real issue is the failure of NHPC to obtain license for usage of waters under the provisions of the appropriate law of the land, however, the state government cannot shy away from its responsibility for its casual approach to the issue.
Pertinently, in terms of Section 94 of Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources (Regulation & Management ) Act 2010 as enforced on 01-11-2010, no user is entitled to install a unit requiring usage of water without obtaining a Licence under Section 97 of the Act . Right now the perception is that NHPC is running the projects illegally and unconstitutionally as there is no authentic agreement between the state and the union government (NHPC) and now the corporation is using the waters of the state unlawfully as it has failed to obtain license from appropriate authority under the act.
According to information furnished by the Power Ministry, the NHPC has paid Rs. 639 crore as water usage charges till March 2012 for Salal, Dulhasti, Sewa-II and Uri power stations.
" Water is a state subject and the centre cannot frame policies on it. No central formula can work on a state subject," Taj Mohiuddin told Early Times. We have enacted a law which NHPC says it was tailor-made for the corporation, fine, it is their perception, but I am not going to tolerate violation of a law which has been crafted intelligently, and honestly to protect the interests of the state. However, Taj said NHPC is contemptuous towards local laws and is behaving like East India Company.
"NHPC is not only executing the projects unconstitutionally but using the waters of the state unlawfully' professor Nisar Ali a veteran economist told Early Times. " Even after lapse of over one and half a year since the much hyped Jammu & Kashmir Water Resources Act-2010 was instituted, the government has failed to implement its provisos - particularly the section, which makes it mandatory for the hydel power generating companies in the state to get license for water usage" Nisar said.
Going by the rules of the Act, all the projects being operated by NHPC in Jammu and Kashmir are illegal as these are running without any license from the government for the usage of the state's waters, added Nisar.
Sources said the main reason behind the government's failure to implement the Act was its indecisiveness over the Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) recommendations constituted to workout modalities for buying back the power projects from NHPC.
They further said that as per the provisions of J&K Water Resources Act-2010, the management of all the hydel projects running in the state have to seek permission for water usage. "The Act was implemented in December 2010 according to which the NHPC and other hydel power generating companies have to get license from the state government within six months of passing of the Act to use the state waters," sources said. They said NHPC - the major stakeholder of hydel projects including Uri, Salal, Dulhasti and Sewa, has not got the license as provided under the Act.
Meanwhile, sources said, consultant in union power ministry Peerzada Mumtaz who hails from Kashmir has also failed in his efforts to break the deadlock between NHPC and the state government and he has submitted a report to the ministry in this behalf. |
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