Pakistan: Kishanganga Hydroproject Judgement

Today I was reading an article on Kishanganga Hydroproject and it came to my mind that i must discuss this topic with you all..

Jethalal - Mehta Saab..What is this Kishan Ganga Project? Some temple of Lord Krishna??? Heard somewhere that this became a reason of dispute between India and Pakistan.

Mehta -- No Jaithalal , Kishanganga is a tributary of Jhelum river.When Kishanganga enters Pakistan, it is called “Neelam river.”

Jethalal - To fir locha kya hai???????( What is the issue)

Mehta - I think i have to explain you in detail..

Jethalal - If your explanation will take time then let me go back to home and bring some jalebi , phaphda..

Mehta - Listen to me very carefully... ok ....

.Lets First start with INDUS WATER TREATY.

Signed between India(Nehru) and Pakistan (Gen.Ayub Khan), in 1960.

It allocates the water in following manner

.Tributaries of Indus River - Sutlej , Ravi , Beas , Chenab , Jhelum 

Eastern Rivers  - Sutlej , Ravi , Beas . This water belong to exclusively India.

Western River - Chenab , Jhelum , Indus. This water belongs to pakistan .However , India can make limited use and build hydro projects with certain conditions.

Permanent Indus Commission -

Indus Water Treaty provides for this Commission.

It is made up of one Indian + one Pakistani Commissioner.

PIC holds meetings, inspects the projects on these rivers (to make sure neither party is violating anything).

If either party is making or modifying any canal, projects etc. they’ve to share data/ information to other party.

Water related issues/disputes should be solved by talks and negotiations.

If talks/negotiations fail, then India / Pakistan can approach a third party neutral expert.

Kishanganga Problem - 

As you can see, India is building a dam at a place called “Gurez”. (work done by National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC))

India will divert this water via a 20+ km tunnel for generating electricity.

This tunnel will deliver water to Kishanganga hydroelectric plant (KHEP) @Bonar Nalla and generate about 300+MW electricity.

Pakistan objected to this project.

India refused to stop the project.

So, 2010 Pakistan approaches International Court of Arbitration (ICA) saying that India has violated the Indus water treaty of 1960.

The court gave stay order and stopped India from constructing the project while the case was going on.

Pakistan Objections -

If India builds a dam on Kishanganga and diverts water then

1. Less Electricity for Pakistan 

We are also building a Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project.

This plant will have electricity generation capacity of almost 1000MW.

But if India builds a dam on Kishanganga (=Neelum) then less water flow for Pakistan’s side = this project’s electricity generation capacity will be reduced by 150MW.

2. Less water for Pakistan 

We’ll will receive 15% less water (from our original share of river waters according to Indus Water treaty).

We might not get water at all from Neelum River for about seven to nine months a year! = not good for agriculture.

International Court of Arbitration at Hague - 

India was represented by noted legal expert Mr.Fali S Nariman

Court	After hearing both the side, We order that India has right to build dam and divert water from River Kishanganga. BUT India will have to maintain some minimum water flow, for Pakistan’s use. It means Indian doesn’t have right to “FULLY” divert water.
India	Ok how much minimum water flow do we need to maintain for Pakistan?
Court	That we’ll tell you in December 2013. But in the mean time, both of your submit your survey database to us. So we can decide the minimum flow. And @Pakistan, you also give data on how much water do you from Kishanganga sorry Neelam, for agriculture/irrigation?
Pakistan	Ok.
India	Objection! I suspect that Pakistan will intentionally come up with fake data that they need huge amount of water for irrigation!
Court	It is for us to decide whether data is legit or fake! But submit the data first. Plus, When both of your submit data, you’ll be given the opportunity to make objection against other party’s data.

To sum up: This is only a “partial verdict”, and “full” verdict will come in Dec 2013.

 

Mehta - Got it?????????/

Jethalal - I am going to sleep. it's already very late... Shubh Ratri..

Mehta - Gud Nt...

Courtesy : Originally written by Montu..