India sets the ball rolling on its rights under Indus Waters Treaty; prepares DPR for Ujh project in J&K
, TNN|
Updated: Dec 30, 2017, 08.45 AM IST
NEW DELHI: In keeping with its decision to review utilisation of Indus waters as part of its signalling that Pakistan cannot expect past voluntary concessions to continue as long as it exports terror to India, the government has moved further on a project to store water in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district.
Looking to fast-track utilisation of India's rights under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the Central Water Commission (CWC) has finalised a detailed project report on Ujh multi-purpose project and the government made it clear that the proposal aims to harness water that was flowing untapped across the border.
The project report has been submitted to the J&K government for evaluation. The project will store around 0.65 million acre feet (MAF) of water from Ujh (a tributary of Ravi) to irrigate 30,000 hectares and produce more than 200 MW of hydro-power.
The Ujh project is a step towards India's utilisation of waters of the Indus and its tributaries in keeping with its rights under the treaty. Under the IWT, signed with Pakistan in 1960, waters of Ravi are allocated to India. It, however, took the CWC 16 years to complete the process of detailed project report (DPR) after getting a formal nod to do so in 2001, following a political prompt from the current government.
The task force was set up after India decided it will explore all options for utilising the maximum waters of the Indus system that is legally given to it under the treaty.
Looking to fast-track utilisation of India's rights under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the Central Water Commission (CWC) has finalised a detailed project report on Ujh multi-purpose project and the government made it clear that the proposal aims to harness water that was flowing untapped across the border.
The project report has been submitted to the J&K government for evaluation. The project will store around 0.65 million acre feet (MAF) of water from Ujh (a tributary of Ravi) to irrigate 30,000 hectares and produce more than 200 MW of hydro-power.
The Ujh project is a step towards India's utilisation of waters of the Indus and its tributaries in keeping with its rights under the treaty. Under the IWT, signed with Pakistan in 1960, waters of Ravi are allocated to India. It, however, took the CWC 16 years to complete the process of detailed project report (DPR) after getting a formal nod to do so in 2001, following a political prompt from the current government.
The task force was set up after India decided it will explore all options for utilising the maximum waters of the Indus system that is legally given to it under the treaty.
(This article was originally published in The Times of India)
