Pakistan may seek arbitration on Indian hydropower project

Friday, 14 March 2003, 20:30 IST
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may go for arbitration against India by requesting the appointment of a "neutral expert" on the construction of a hydropower project in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan fears that the 450-megawatt (MW) Baglihar Hydropower Project could hamper the flow of Chenab river waters to it. "Pakistan will soon formally send to India its decision," Jamaat Ali Shah, the commissioner of Pakistan's Permanent Commission of Indus Waters (PCIW), told IANS. Shah hoped that the World Bank would play an important role in the constitution of a neutral expert and help in solving the issue, as it was the guarantor and broker of the Indus Water Treaty inked between Pakistan and India in 1960. With the construction of the project, India will be able to store 164,000 acre- feet of water behind gates of spillways. "India can stop the water of the river Chenab, that is to reach Pakistan in 26 to 30 days, with these gates," said Shah adding this would be against the treaty. He, however, said the Pakistani prime minister was yet to give the go-ahead for a neutral expert.
Source: IANS
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