Five dams to be constructed by India on Western Rivers : Pakistan has raised objections on designs, National Assembly told

The National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that Pakistan had raised objections on the design of five dams to be constructed by India on three Western Rivers in violation of the Indus Basin Treaty. This was informed by Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar during question hour.
"Nimoo-Bazgo Hydroelectric Plant on River Indus is under construction, while India plans to undertake construction of Dumkhar Micro Hydel Project (0.5 MW), Marpachoo Hydroelectric Plant (0.75 MW), Dah Small Hydroelectric Plant (6 MW) and Hanu Small Hydroelectric Plant (5 MW)," he added.
As far as Nimoo-Bazgo is concerned, the Minister said, Pakistan might take up the issue at the level of Court of Arbitration, while objections relating to others were being dealt with at the level of Permanent Indus Commission. He assured the House that the issue would be taken up effectively to protect water rights of the country as per the treaty. He said that the government had received significant information and design details of these projects from other sources, as India had so far not shared any information about the projects with Pakistan.
He said India had to provide information six months in advance before construction of the new hydroelectric plants under the provisions of Indus Waters Treaty 1960. The Minister further said that India had formally been asked to provide information about the plants.
Currently, he said, India's Nimoo-Bazgo Hydroelectric Plant was a major project on river Indus, which is under construction and that Pakistan raised objections on the design of the plant. He said the objections raised by Pakistan on Nimoo-Bazgo Plant were discussed in three meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission held in 2009-2010.
He further told the House that Indus Water Treaty 1960 allowed India to construct new run of the river hydroelectric plants and storage works on the western rivers (Indus, Chenab and Jhelum) within the design criteria and the storage works under the limitations as provided in the treaty. To a question, he said that his Ministry and Thar Coal and Energy Board were vigorously pursuing to develop necessary infrastructure for early completion of Thar Coal Project.
To another supplementary question, the Minister said that the present government had added 3393 megawatt to the national grid since 2008, while rehabilitation of GENCOs was being undertaken under USAID financial assistance to recover 315 megawatt lost capacity.
He further said that 1500 megawatt wind power projects were being installed in private sector. He said that after the completion of Tarbela Fourth Extension, which was in design stage, the generation capacity of Tarbela Dam would increase to 1410 megawatt. Similarly, the capacity of Mangla Power Station will increase to 1310 megawatt after completion of rehabilitation project, he added.
He told the House that strict disciplinary action was taken against meter-readers for recording bogus or wrong reading. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary for Industries Syed Haider Ali Shah informed the House that Utility Stores Corporation earned a profit of over Rs 2 billion during last three years.
In a written reply, Minister for Textile Industry Makhdoom Shahabuddin told the House that it was incorrect to state that value-added products of raw cotton were not encouraged. In Textile Policy 2009-14, special focus has been given to the promotion of exports of valued-added textile goods. He said the Policy aims to achieve the export target of $25 billion by 2014 by doubling the rate of value addition from current $1000 per bale to $2000 per bale.