Kishanganga construction by India: Pakistan could lose 21 percent Neelum inflow

A parliamentary panel was told on Wednesday that if Kishanganga Hydropower Project was completed by India as planned, Pakistan would lose 21 percent Neelum inflow, which will reduce its energy generation capacity by about 10 percent.
The committee was also informed that Pakistan had already submitted a reply to the International Court of Arbitration on diversion of the river by India in violation of IWT, 1960, for which a second hearing will be held by the end of this month at Hague, Netherlands, while India would submit its reply within six month.
Senate standing committee on water and power, which met here with Senator Lashkari Raisani in the chair, was briefed by water and power ministry on Pak-India water issues, including construction of Kishanganga Hydropower Project, being built by India on Jhelum River in violation of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) of 1960.
Pakistan has objected to the Indian move to divert river Neelam just for construction of 330MW Kishanganga hydropower and storage project. Islamabad is objecting to the move as the project will not only deprive it of proprietary rights over the river but also hurt generation capacity of hydropower projects and agriculture being carried out through River Jhelum.
Kamal Majeedullah, who is pleading Pakistan''s case at International Court of Arbitration, informed the committee that India was diverting water of the river through a 23kms long tunnel to produce 330MW power. Later talking to reporters, secretary water and power Imtiaz Qazi said the committee has been informed that a team of International Court of Arbitration, accompanied by Indo-Pak delegation had inspected the under-construction Kishanganga Hydropower Project. Later, the committee discussed construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam project and load-shedding issue, expressing its concern over the delay in construction of the dam. The committee was also informed that due to certain hindrances, the project has not been launched yet.
The ministry officials told the committee that an agreement for provision of funds by Asian Development Bank (ADB) has not yet been signed, adding that if it is signed this year, construction work would start by next year. They said that land acquisition process, construction of offices and residential buildings and road network were under way, while the construction of dam would start once the agreement was signed with the ADB.
Imtiaz Qazi said earlier the estimated cost of the project was Rs 6 billion, which had been escalated for different reasons. The members of the committee asked the ministry to stop unscheduled load-shedding across the country as well as reduce its time period.
Work on the power project was started in 1994 but could not be completed till date due to the objections raised by Pakistan. All attempts to reach out a bilateral settlement have been failed. New Delhi is determined to complete the project by February 2014 while Pakistan has made it clear to India that its desire for building the dam would never be fulfilled.