NEW DELHI, Oct 22: A team of the Pakistan Commission for Indus Waters will return home on Thursday, apparently convinced that they have found violations by India of a 1960 treaty on water sharing, by building an unauthorized dam on the river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani officials said on Wednesday.
The three-member team led by Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Jamaat Ali Shah inspected the height of the dam of the Baglihar hydroelectric project, 160 km north of Jammu, during their two-day visit.
“The team has returned to Delhi and they will go home tomorrow by the land route,” a Pakistan diplomat said. “They have found that the various details of the dam clearly do not match the map they were given by the Indian side.”
Though Pakistan made a request for the inspection four years ago, it was conceded only now by India, Pakistan officials say.
A three-member Indian team led by India’s pointperson for the treaty, A Bhardwaj, accompanied the team in Jammu.
Pakistan has raised objections about the height of the dam and the water storage capacity of the 450 MW power project, which it says has violated the Indus Water Treaty of 1960.
Under the treaty, one of the most durable agreements between the South Asian rivals, Pakistan is authorised to monitor the use of waters of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, which flow through Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chenab is one of five rivers which form the Indus River system. Under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, Indian and Pakistan officials meet once a year to monitor sharing of Indus River water between the two countries.
Despite two wars and a hostile relationship, India and Pakistan have honoured the treaty, which was negotiated by the World Bank.
At their last meeting in Islamabad in February, Pakistan suggested a neutral expert should resolve the problem. India rejects any outside mediation.
India offered to modify the dam’s design, but Pakistan was not satisfied with the proposal and rejected it at the Islamabad meeting.
The dam, located near the village of Baglihar, 150 kilometres north of Jammu, is due to be completed by 2004.
