National

Pak. disputes design of Bagliar power project

By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi May 30. The tension between India and Pakistan seems to have cast its shadow over the 87th meeting here of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), with Pakistan seeking intervention of a ``neutral expert'' if the dispute over the design of the Bagliar hydro-electric project in Jammu and Kashmir was not resolved within the next three months.

This is the first time that talk of a ``neutral expert'' has come up in bi-lateral discussions over the time-tested Indus Water Treaty of 1960, which envisages sharing of six rivers between the two nations.

Without giving its response to the changes in the design made by India, the Pakistan side took a rigid stand of invoking the relevant articles of the Treaty for the settlement of the issue. The information about the 450 MW project on Chenab in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir was conveyed to Pakistan as early as in 1992 and the matter was discussed between the two parties at the annual PIC meets in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

India has not taken a view on the request of the Pakistan side to hold another meeting of the PIC within the next three months, nor has it agreed to a ``neutral expert''. If at all it comes to that, then the ``neutral expert'' would have to be jointly decided and it could be the World Bank under whose aegis the Treaty was signed.

During the nearly five-hour discussions today, Pakistan also wanted to discuss the 330 MW Kishen Ganga hydro-electric plant in Jammu and Kashmir which is under construction. But the Indian Commissioner, A.C. Gupta, did not get drawn on the issue on the ground that there was no controversy on the project. Kishen Ganga is a tributary of Jhelum in the State.

The Indian side regretted the stand taken by the Pakistan Commissioner, Shiraz Jamil Memon, that India was not prepared to discuss the issues as raised by him on Kishen Ganga and, therefore, sought to take up the issues under relevant articles of the Treaty for the settlement of differences and disputes.

Pakistan had sought clarifications on the design of both the projects, which, according to India, have already been given to them. As per the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, there are six design criterion which need to be fulfilled and India is well within its right and within the design criterion as envisaged in the Treaty for both the projects. The design for Kishen Ganga were given in 1994 and raising this issue at this stage seemed more like a political expediency than a technical issue.

Among the other items discussed on the second day today were the transmission of flood data during the coming monsoon season, the programme of tours and meetings through the year, the annual report and the finalisation of the minutes of the PIC meeting held in Islamabad/Lahore during May/June, last year.

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