India-Pakistan talks: No breakthrough expected on Wullar water project
Pakistan says the project is in violation of the Indus Water Treaty.
ISLAMABAD:
No major breakthrough is expected during the Pakistan-India secretary-level talks scheduled to take place in Islamabad from May 11 to 14 on Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigational project. Pakistan has opposed the project saying it is in violation of the Indus Water Treaty and is likely to stick to this stance.
India had proposed to build the barrage in 1984 to build additional storage but work on the project is suspended since 1987 after Pakistan warned India it will go to the Court of Arbitration. The project was to be built on River Jhelum and at the mouth of Wullar Lake, India’s largest freshwater lake, near Sopore town in Kashmir. According to the original Indian plan, the barrage was expected to be of 439 feet long and 40 feet wide with a maximum storage capacity of 0.3 million acres feet of water.
Sources told The Express Tribune that Pakistan will not change its stance during the talks and will urge the Indian team to scrap the project. The Indus Water Treaty allows India to store only 10,000 acre feet water.
“The storage capacity of 0.30 million acre feet is a gross violation of the Indus Water Treaty and therefore Pakistan cannot accept India’s demand to start work on the barrage,” an official said.
Former Indus Water Commissioner Jamat Ali Shah said that nine rounds of technical-level talks between the two countries have been held since the dispute first cropped up. He reiterated that the construction of the barrage would allow India to store 0.3 million acre feet water which is a violation of the Indus Water Treaty. “India should abandon the project,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2011.
No major breakthrough is expected during the Pakistan-India secretary-level talks scheduled to take place in Islamabad from May 11 to 14 on Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigational project. Pakistan has opposed the project saying it is in violation of the Indus Water Treaty and is likely to stick to this stance.
India had proposed to build the barrage in 1984 to build additional storage but work on the project is suspended since 1987 after Pakistan warned India it will go to the Court of Arbitration. The project was to be built on River Jhelum and at the mouth of Wullar Lake, India’s largest freshwater lake, near Sopore town in Kashmir. According to the original Indian plan, the barrage was expected to be of 439 feet long and 40 feet wide with a maximum storage capacity of 0.3 million acres feet of water.
Sources told The Express Tribune that Pakistan will not change its stance during the talks and will urge the Indian team to scrap the project. The Indus Water Treaty allows India to store only 10,000 acre feet water.
“The storage capacity of 0.30 million acre feet is a gross violation of the Indus Water Treaty and therefore Pakistan cannot accept India’s demand to start work on the barrage,” an official said.
Former Indus Water Commissioner Jamat Ali Shah said that nine rounds of technical-level talks between the two countries have been held since the dispute first cropped up. He reiterated that the construction of the barrage would allow India to store 0.3 million acre feet water which is a violation of the Indus Water Treaty. “India should abandon the project,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2011.