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Pakistan’s foreign ministry was asked about CNN-News18’s May 21 exclusive report that India has initiated work on two key infrastructure projects linked to the Chenab river system
Chenab is a western river on which India has had limited rights under the Indus Waters Treaty. (File pic/AFP)
Rattled by the Indian government’s plans to go ahead with the Chenab-Beas Link project and a new tunnel to manage sedimentation at the Salal Dam, Islamabad said on Thursday that these projects carry “dangerous implications for Pakistan’s economy”.
The Pakistan foreign ministry was asked in Islamabad about the CNN-News18 exclusive report on May 21 that India has initiated work on two major infrastructure projects linked to the Chenab river system. One, involving a large inter-basin water diversion tunnel in Himachal Pradesh on the Chenab, and the other aimed at restoring sediment management capability at the Salal Dam. Together, both these projects are worth nearly Rs 2,600 crore.
“We have seen this media report and the public tender document issued by the Government of India for Chenab-Beas link project with the intention of transferring 1.9 million acre feet of water from Chenab river to Beas. Such an inter-basin project constitutes a grave violation of the Indus Water Treaty,” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said. The Pakistan spokesperson said the second project mentioned in the CNN-News18 report, the new tunnel at the Salal Dam, was a “deeply concerning development” as well.
“India has neither officially communicated nor shared any notice about these projects. These projects confirm that India seeks to weaponise water; this carries dangerous implications for Pakistan’s economy…,” the Pakistan foreign ministry has said.
India put into abeyance the Indus Water Treaty after the Pahalgam attacks last year, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that “blood and water cannot flow together” and promised that India will use its rightful share over the three western rivers, including the Chenab. Since then, various hydroelectric projects on the Chenab river have been fast-tracked, and new projects like the Chenab-Beas link have been envisioned to divert surplus waters from the Chenab river.
The government plans to start work on this most ambitious river-linking project by August 1 this year and has fixed a completion date of July 31, 2029, for the Rs 2,300 crore project that will divert surplus water from the Chenab River to the Beas river basin.
“The Link-3 Project is proposed on Chenab River in Lahaul valley of Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. In the present proposal, it is envisaged to construct a 19 m high barrage across the river Chenab, intake, and water conveyance tunnel of about 8.7 km length. In addition to that, the project also envisages the possibility of hydropower generation in Phase-II of development,” says an NHPC document accessed by CNN-News18 recently.
Alongside the Himachal project, NHPC has also begun work on a second Chenab-linked intervention—a Rs 268 crore diversion-cum-sediment bypass tunnel at the Salal hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir. The Salal project carries considerable technical and strategic significance. Desiltation work at Salal was among the first visible operational measures initiated after India announced that the Indus Waters Treaty would be kept “in abeyance” following the Pahalgam terror attack.
The Salal reservoir has suffered from severe siltation for decades because the Chenab river carries enormous quantities of sediment from the Himalayas. Engineers say this has gradually reduced the reservoir’s storage capacity and affected the efficiency of turbines and water flow management. Heavy sedimentation can also complicate flood handling and reduce the operational life of hydroelectric infrastructure. The new tunnel is intended to solve a long-standing problem at the project. It will help divert water when required and also flush accumulated sediment from the reservoir through a bypass mechanism.
About the Author
Aman Sharma, Executive Editor – National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister…Read More
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