Pakistani delegation granted access to rattle power project on Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir

A five-member Pakistani delegation along with neutral experts from the World Bank on Tuesday toured the Rattle Power Project, a run-of-water hydroelectric project in Chenab Valley.

On the second day of their visit to Kishtwar, the delegation visited the 850 MW Rattle Power Plant Project on the banks of River Chenab in Dorabsala village and inspected some of the units of the project. The tour by a team of around 40 people, including the Indian delegation, was conducted away from the media.

Pakistan has been raising technical objections in various forums, including the Permanent Indus Commission, over power projects in Jammu and Kashmir since 2006 and has sought arbitration by various international forums, which India has rejected.

Official sources said the Pakistani delegation is also likely to inspect the 1,000-megawatt Pakal Dal hydroelectric project being constructed along the Marsdal river, which flows out of the Malwa Valley and empties into the Chenab.

Pakistan also challenged the Kishanganga project in the Kashmir Valley in 2006. Officials have been tight-lipped on whether the delegation will be given access to the power project built on the Kishanganga river in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. The delegation is scheduled to stay in Jammu and Kashmir until June 28.

India has water rights over the three rivers that flow through the state of Jammu and Kashmir under the Indus Waters Treaty, and also has full rights over the waters of the three rivers in the state of Punjab.

Pakistan claims that power projects on rivers in Jammu and Kashmir will “reduce the flow of water in the rivers that provide 80 percent of irrigated agriculture.” It has also filed a petition with the arbitration tribunal, seeking the intervention of neutral experts. India maintains that it adheres to the Inland Waterways Act and that its use of water is governed by a 1960 treaty between India and Pakistan.