India concerned over Pak dam project
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
The Pakistan government's approval for the construction of the mega Diamer-Bhasha dam in the Northern Areas, in Azad Kashmir (***), could initiate a fresh row with India.
New Delhi says the proposed project would not only be located in an illegally held territory but could also cause floods in Jammu and Kashmir. It is also concerned over reports that the dam may be built with Chinese assistance.
The 4,500-megawatt Diamer-Bhasha dam project was approved by Pakistan's Executive Committee of the National Economic Council last Thursday. Construction of the dam on the River Indus, some 400 km from Islamabad, would begin by October 2010 and be completed in eight to 10 years. Its payback period will be 30 years. Islamabad claims the project will be a lifeline for the country.
The project is the biggest ever approved in the history of Pakistan. Islamabad says that the 272-metre high concrete dam would have a storage capacity of 6.4 million acre-feet and would irrigate more than 33 million acres and help reduce sedimentation in the Tarbela Dam.
However, the Indian government, unhappy over the development, was contemplating raising objections with Islamabad on the issue, foreign ministry sources said.
Besides Indian reservations, the project faces internal issues.
The Bhasha water reservoir will be located in the Northern Areas and power will be generated in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The likelihood of the two regions getting into a tangle over hydropower royalties is high. Also, while the power plant will be located in NWFP, it will inundate large areas of Gilgit-Baltistan.
In order to appease the locals, the name of the dam was changed from Bhasha to Diamer-Bhasha. But that hasn't stopped Gilgit-Baltistan locals from protesting.
Abdul Hamid Khan, the Balawaristan National Front chairman and exiled political leader from the Gilgit-Baltistan region, claimed that Pakistan was planning to build six mega dams (including the Diamer-Bhasha dam) in *** without consulting the local people. "More than half the indigenous population of the region would be affected. More than a million of the two million people in the region would be displaced," Khan said.
India concerned over Pak dam project: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
The Pakistan government's approval for the construction of the mega Diamer-Bhasha dam in the Northern Areas, in Azad Kashmir (***), could initiate a fresh row with India.
New Delhi says the proposed project would not only be located in an illegally held territory but could also cause floods in Jammu and Kashmir. It is also concerned over reports that the dam may be built with Chinese assistance.
The 4,500-megawatt Diamer-Bhasha dam project was approved by Pakistan's Executive Committee of the National Economic Council last Thursday. Construction of the dam on the River Indus, some 400 km from Islamabad, would begin by October 2010 and be completed in eight to 10 years. Its payback period will be 30 years. Islamabad claims the project will be a lifeline for the country.
The project is the biggest ever approved in the history of Pakistan. Islamabad says that the 272-metre high concrete dam would have a storage capacity of 6.4 million acre-feet and would irrigate more than 33 million acres and help reduce sedimentation in the Tarbela Dam.
However, the Indian government, unhappy over the development, was contemplating raising objections with Islamabad on the issue, foreign ministry sources said.
Besides Indian reservations, the project faces internal issues.
The Bhasha water reservoir will be located in the Northern Areas and power will be generated in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The likelihood of the two regions getting into a tangle over hydropower royalties is high. Also, while the power plant will be located in NWFP, it will inundate large areas of Gilgit-Baltistan.
In order to appease the locals, the name of the dam was changed from Bhasha to Diamer-Bhasha. But that hasn't stopped Gilgit-Baltistan locals from protesting.
Abdul Hamid Khan, the Balawaristan National Front chairman and exiled political leader from the Gilgit-Baltistan region, claimed that Pakistan was planning to build six mega dams (including the Diamer-Bhasha dam) in *** without consulting the local people. "More than half the indigenous population of the region would be affected. More than a million of the two million people in the region would be displaced," Khan said.
India concerned over Pak dam project: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.
& as Jana said Kick WB and others
India shouldn't object on it but it has been there habbit now putting their legs on every single matter
