“Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended’, I wonder if we will be able to resume the project. It will give us the advantage of allowing us to use the Jhelum for navigation. It will also improve the power generation of downstream power projects, especially in winter,” he adds.The project intends to regulate water release from Wular Lake to a minimum depth (1.4 metre) in the Jhelum River during lean winter months. India has been consistently raising the completion of the navigation project with Pakistan in secretary-level composite dialogues and side talks at multilateral platforms.The last time India spoke with Pakistan was in 2014. Then water resource minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told Parliament about ongoing discussion with Pakistan and refused to give time frame for resumption of the work. According to Pakistan’s perception, the project structure constitutes 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. Indian side has pointed out that the structure is not a storage facility but a navigation facility as defined in the Indus Waters Treaty.3 JeM terrorists killed in Pulwama encounterThree Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Forces launched a cordon and search operation in Awantipora after receiving specific inputs about the presence of terrorists there. The search operation turned into a gunfight after the terrorists opened fire at the forces, who retaliated, killing three terrorists.
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