Centre directs officials to upscale efforts for ‘better utilisation’ of river waters in J&K under Indus Water Treaty

The meeting took stock of the progress made on various hydro power projects in the Union Territory of J&K.

The Union government on Friday instructed officials in Jammu & Kashmir to upscale efforts for “better utilisation of the country’s rights under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)“ over the three rivers flowing through the Union Territory (U.T.).

Deputy National Security Advisor Sari Vikram Misri chaired the second meeting of the special task force in Srinagar “to ensure exercise of India’s rights under the IWT”, a government spokesman said.

The meeting took stock of the progress made on various hydro power projects in the Union Territory of J&K. It was noted that progress had been made on several fronts and emphasis was laid on completing the works on all the Indus Basin Projects in a timely manner to enable better utilisation of India’s rights under the IWT, the spokesman said.

The high-level meeting was attended by top officials, including J&K’s Principal Secretary of the Power Development Department, officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and Commissioner (Indus) and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

The deputy NSA also met J&K Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha and apprised him of the ongoing efforts to monitor implementation of hydro power projects in the Indus Basin under the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office. “The L-G assured full cooperation of the UT administration in this national endeavour,” the spokesman said.

Top military and security officials briefed the Deputy NSA on the prevailing situation in the valley of Kashmir. The spokesman said Mr. Misri appreciated the role of the concerned stakeholders in the conduct of the G-20 working group meeting on tourism in Srinagar and congratulated them on its successful conclusion.

Earlier this year, India sought to modify and review the 62-year-old Indus Water Treaty (IWT) dealing with the management of the three cross-Line of Control (LoC) rivers in J&K and opposed Pakistan’s decision to approach a court of arbitration at The Hague. Pakistan, in the past, raised objections over several power hydel projects in J&K, citing violation of the IWT.