Shahpur Kandi Dam: Punjab-JK deadlock continues

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 9

The excess Ravi river water will continue to flow from India to Pakistan as the Centre has failed to convince the Jammu and Kashmir Government to allow the Punjab Government to resume construction of the Shahpur Kandi Dam project.

Earlier this week, the Union Water Resources Ministry held a meeting with senior officials of the Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir Governments to break the deadlock between the two states over the resumption of the work on the project.

With Jammu and Kashmir raising some new issues at the meeting, Punjab has asked the Union Water Resources Ministry to request the Prime Minister to deal with the issue at his level directly.

The meeting was attended Punjab’s Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal; Secretary, Irrigation KS Pannu; and Jammu and Kashmir Secretary Irrigation Sanjiv Verma besides other officials of both states and the Centre.

As some Ravi water flows to Pakistan from Ranjit Sagar Dam via Madhopur head works, the Centre is keen to stop that flow at the earliest. For this reason, the meeting of the two states was convened. The Centre has already made a statement for the maximum internal use of water of the Chenab and other rivers flowing from India to Pakistan.

To prevent the flow of Ravi water into Pakistan, a reservoir is to be constructed at Shahpur Kandi. But the work on this project was suspended by Punjab following objections raised by Jammu and Kashmir two years ago.

On the other hand, to utilise the Ravi water flowing into its territory from India, the Pakistan Government, sources said, had constructed two head works — at Balo-ke and Sidhnai — from where water is released for irrigation purposes.

Raising the new issues, Jammu and Kashmir has asked Punjab and the Centre to pay Rs 8,650 crore for using its power and water share for the past about one-and-a-half decades.

Jammu and Kashmir has asked for compensation to families displaced due to the project and also jobs to the people of that state at the project. The Punjab Government told the Jammu and Kashmir officials concerned that they should refer these matters to the arbitrator where both states should put up their arguments. The decision given by the arbitrator would be acceptable to Punjab. But in the meantime, work on the project should be resumed.

However, Jammu and Kashmir officials did not agree to the resumption of work. Punjab officials informed their Jammu and Kashmir counterparts that compensation had already been given to all affected families and jobs also had been given as per rules and the decided proportion.