Jammu and Kashmir politicians are seeking compensation for losses caused by the India-Pakistan Indus Waters Treaty that has robbed the state of its huge hydro-power potential, estimated to be over 25,000 MW.
They say the 1960 river water-sharing agreement had given a raw deal to the impoverished and industrially-backward state and needed a review keeping Jammu and Kashmir’s economic interests in mind.
The two countries should have taken care of the interests of the state, Education Minister and Kashmir government spokesperson Naeem Akhtar said.
It has always been our stand that the state has to be compensated because of the limits imposed on power generation by the treaty. It is our party’s stand that India and Pakistan need to work out a mechanism to protect the interests of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.Naeem Akhtar, PDP Leader
The bilateral agreement arbitrated by the World Bank gives control over three eastern rivers – the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej – to India. It guarantees an unrestricted control to Pakistan of three western rivers – Chenab, Jhelum and the Indus, which flow through Jammu and Kashmir.
The pact has been in focus amid heightened India-Pakistan tensions after the 18 September Uri terror attack, blamed on militants who came from across the de facto border from Pakistan.
India has indicated it would re-look the pact as a response to the attack, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “Blood and water cannot flow together.”
India cannot construct any dams on the three western rivers as per the agreement but some storage facility is allowed. Resultantly, all power projects in Jammu and Kashmir have to be run-of-the-river, depriving the state of a huge hydro-electric potential of up to 25,000 MW.
State Congress president Ghulam Ahmed Mir agreed. He recalled that in 2003, when the Congress ruled the state in coalition with the PDP, a resolution was brought in the assembly seeking compensation in lieu of the pact.
We told the central government that despite our immense hydro-power potential, the state is holding a begging bowl in its hand.
State BJP leaders, however, were cautiously tight-lipped over the issue. “Whatever the central government decides would always be in the larger interest of the country and that includes Jammu and Kashmir,” said a senior BJP leader.
No separatist leader was available for comments because most of them are under detention in their houses or lodged in jails.
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