New Delhi: With Indus Water Treaty (IWT) under abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack in April, the Indian government has started work on the Tulbul Navigation project in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Besides, the government is also planning four hydro power projects on the western rivers that fall under IWT ambit to optimise India’s share of water from these rivers.Union Jal Shakti minister Mr C.R. Patil said that India is not going to be intimidated by the threat calls of Pakistani politicians like its former foreign minister Mr Bilawal Bhutto, “who is playing to his domestic gallery.” The minister said India will make best use of its water for its people. Mr Bhutto had threatened a war if India stopped water to Pakistan.The work on Tulbul Navigation project, also known as Wullar Barrage, had started in 1984 but had to be stopped due to objections by Pakistan under IWT. Now, sources said, discussions are at an advanced stage to bring the project back on track. A feasibility study has been conducted and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) is preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on it.J&K Chief Minister Mr Omar Abdullah had in May posted a video of the stalled work on the Wullar lake in North Kashmir saying the government must now revive the project for the benefit of the union territory. “…It will allow us to use the Jhelum for navigation purposes and also boost generation for our power projects downstream, especially in winter,” Mr Abdullah had said in a post on social media.In Pakistan’s perception, the project structure is a barrage with a storage capacity of around 0.3 million acre feet (0.369 Billion cubic metre) and that India is not permitted to construct any storage facility on the main stem of the river Jhelum. To this the Indian side has regularly pointed out that the structure is not a storage facility but a navigation facility as defined in the Indus Waters Treaty 1960. Further, Wullar Lake gains natural storage and the navigation lock is merely a structure to regulate the outflow from the natural storage to facilitate adequate depth of water for navigation during the winter months from October to February. India has also pointed out that Non-Consumptive Use is permitted to it under the Treaty which includes control or use of water for navigation, provided these do not prejudice downstream uses of waters by Pakistan.Sources said that the work on the Kishanganga hydropower project (KHEP) in Gurez Valley, has already been completed and the construction of the Ratle project (RHEP) on Chenab River has been expedited. Pakistan has also objected to hydropower projects on these citing IWT following which India had sought World Bank’s intervention on these projects and the issue is now being examined by a neutral expert Mr Michel Lino.Meanwhile, sources in government said despite the IWT in abeyance, water has not been stopped for Pakistan. “It is not possible to stop flow of water towards Pakistan as we do have limited water holding capacity. During the dry season, we can hold a certain amount of water, particularly on the Chenab river. But during monsoon if we get more water, it flows downstream to Pakistan.“The flow of water has not stopped. Only the flow of information has stopped. Now we are under no obligation to share information on water storage, hydro projects and where and how we are going to divert or use the water of the six rivers under IWT,” sources said. They said due to the obligation under the treaty, India was unable to carry out regular flushing and de-sedimentation work in its dams falling on rivers under IWT.“We filled our dams and then flushed them to manage sediment. But under the treaty, there were some restrictions on flooding, which caused problems in sediment management. What we are doing now is essentially better dam and reservoir management,” sources added.
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