Jammu, October 2
Endeavouring to adjudicate the riparian dispute between India and Pakistan, World Bank appointed Swiss neutral expert Raymond Lafitte today began inspecting the dam design and “peripherial setup” of the 450-mw Baglihar hydel project in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir.“The team entered the project construction site at Chanderkote area of the district at around 10 a.m. The team went to the dam site straightaway and began inspecting its peripheral structures like the diversion tunnels,” a senior official said.
The three-member Swiss team would be discussing the entire design with the Indian and Pakistani officials on the inspection tour after studying the flow of the Chenab river and the various data provided, they said.
The Pakistani representatives had brought along “documentary evidence” in support of their contentions, they said.
Lafitte, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, along with two other Swiss neutral experts, 6 Pakistani and 4 Indian officials arrived in Jammu yesterday.
The Pakistani group is headed by Syed Jamait Ali Shah includes Ashfaq Mehmood, Bashir Qurishi, Asif Baig, Peter Joseph and Faisal Ahmed while the Indian team led by R Jayascela are B.K. Mathur, D.P. Dharzi and Naresh Kumar.
Lafitte was appointed the neutral expert to adjudicate on the Rs 4,500-crore power project by the World Bank in May under the terms of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty after Pakistan said the construction of the project was in violation of the treaty.
Under the treaty, the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi waters of the Indus branch were accorded to India while Jhelum, Chenab and Indus were given to Pakistan. It allowed Jammu and Kashmir to use the waters of the western rivers for “non consumption purposes”.
Pakistan’s contention is that the Baglihar dam would deprive it of over 7,000 cusecs of water every day adversely affecting its agriculture.
The neutral expert was appointed after Pakistan approached the World Bank, which brokered the 1960 treaty, on January 18 this year.
Indian and Pakistani officials are scheduled to meet in New Delhi in November to discuss another power project being constructed on the Kishenganga river in J&K. Pakistan alleges that its design violates the treaty.
Officials of the two sides will visit the project site from November 7-9 before holding talks from November 10-12.
— PTI
