Shimla: A three-member Pakistani delegation will inspect the 120-MW Miyar hydropower project near Udaipur town in bordering tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti tomorrow.
“The delegation led by Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Mirza Asif Beg, reached Manali in Himachal Pradesh this afternoon and would leave for Lahaul and Spiti tomorrow,” said P Dorje Gyamba, Regional Director, Central Water Commission who is accompanying the team. The Indian team comprising Water Commissioner K Vohra and senior joint commissioner P K Saxena would also accompany the Pakistani delegation to the site.
The project is being commissioned by private firm Moser Baer in the Miyar Valley on a tributary of the Chandrabhaga River.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 with the support of the World Bank to settle water issues between the two neighbouring countries provided that India and Pakistan can inspect sites of development works such as projects or dams to check that no diversion has been created to the river flow, which could deny it the unhindered flow.
Official sources said the purpose of the Pakistani team's visit is to ascertain whether any diversion has been made in the original flow of the Chandrabhaga, which later enters Jammu and Kashmir and merges into Chenab River. “We are hopeful that India will show some flexibility on (Pakistan's) reservations over the building of new dams in India,” Pakistan-based daily Express Tribune said, quoting Baig.
During the five-day trip, the delegation will also visit four “controversial sites” on the Chenab River where New Delhi is planning to construct new dams, said the paper. Reiterating that Pakistan's objections over the design of Kishanganga dam were logical, Baig told the daily that some serious doubts pertaining to the controversial project - particularly regarding the Neelum distributary point - and other dams on the Chenab river have already been allayed. The paper also quoted Baig as saying that his delegation would try its best to resolve all issues during their stay in India.
But at the same time, he admitted that Islamabad would have no choice but to approach the International Court of Justice if New Delhi did not entertain their “fair” demands.
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