SRINAGAR: With the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack , J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday suggested that the govt could resume work on Tulbul Navigation Barrage in the Wullar Lake in north Kashmir.
In a post on X, Omar said that civil works in the Tulbul project was started in the early 1980s, but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing IWT. “Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended’, I wonder if we will be able to resume the project,” he said. This will give J&K the advantage of allowing the river Jhelum to be used for navigation and will also improve the power generation of downstream power projects, especially in winters, he added.
The Tulbul Navigation Project involves construction of a 439ft long and 40ft wide barrage with a navigation lock at Wullar Lake. The Union govt had started work on this project in 1984, but stopped it a year later following Pakistan’s strong objections.
Pakistan in 1986 took the issue to the Indus Waters Commission, following which the project was abandoned in 1987.
The work was restarted in 2010, with the then irrigation minister of J&K, Taj Mohideen, stating that Article 9 of IWT permitted such projects meant for non-consumptive use. In 2012, unidentified terrorists lobbed a grenade towards a bund raised by the workers for the project.
In 2016, Taj claimed that the Omar-led NC-Congress (2008-2014) govt had completed almost 80 per cent of the project after redesigning it with a total estimated cost of Rs 50 crore, in contrast to the original project designed in 1980s at Rs 500 crore. He accused the PDP-BJP (2015-2018) govt of abandoning the project.
Taj argued that water storage in the Wullar barrage would significantly benefit the downstream power projects by sustaining electricity generation during the winter months, when they see a sharp decline in output.
In a post on X, Omar said that civil works in the Tulbul project was started in the early 1980s, but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing IWT. “Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended’, I wonder if we will be able to resume the project,” he said. This will give J&K the advantage of allowing the river Jhelum to be used for navigation and will also improve the power generation of downstream power projects, especially in winters, he added.
The Tulbul Navigation Project involves construction of a 439ft long and 40ft wide barrage with a navigation lock at Wullar Lake. The Union govt had started work on this project in 1984, but stopped it a year later following Pakistan’s strong objections.
Pakistan in 1986 took the issue to the Indus Waters Commission, following which the project was abandoned in 1987.
The work was restarted in 2010, with the then irrigation minister of J&K, Taj Mohideen, stating that Article 9 of IWT permitted such projects meant for non-consumptive use. In 2012, unidentified terrorists lobbed a grenade towards a bund raised by the workers for the project.
In 2016, Taj claimed that the Omar-led NC-Congress (2008-2014) govt had completed almost 80 per cent of the project after redesigning it with a total estimated cost of Rs 50 crore, in contrast to the original project designed in 1980s at Rs 500 crore. He accused the PDP-BJP (2015-2018) govt of abandoning the project.
Taj argued that water storage in the Wullar barrage would significantly benefit the downstream power projects by sustaining electricity generation during the winter months, when they see a sharp decline in output.
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