On the second day of the Permanent Indus Water Commission meeting here, the Pakistan delegation made objections on the Bagliar hydroelectric project proposed on the Chenab river by the J-K government.Pakistan did not consider the recent changes made by India in the design of the hydro-electric plant and took a rigid stand of invoking relevant articles of the Indus Water Treaty for the settlement of the issue by neutral experts. A three-month deadline has been set to resolve the issue. ‘‘The objections are not new and have been raised by Pakistanis from 1999 onwards and are related to the design of the hydro-electric project,’’ said IWC chairman A.C. Gupta.The 450-MW hydro-electric power project is supposed to be a ‘run of the river’ project, meaning it does not propose to store water but just uses the flow of the river to generate electricity. There is apprehension from the Pakistani side that this may not be true and hence the threat of a third party intervention in the issue.Experts believe undue importance should not be given to the objections, the important aspect being the treaty has not been abrogated and the meeting is being held on schedule. ‘‘Pakistan has always raised objections and in the present political climate, we should not expect them to be resolved. It is natural they will come with a tough brief,’’ former water resources secretary Ramaswamy Iyer said.The Indus water treaty came into effect from April 1, 1960 and envisaged that waters of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi would be utilised by India while those of Indus, Chenab and Jhelum by Pakistan.
