MUZAFFARABAD: The River Neelum will not go dry after its water is diverted to fill the composite dam of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydroelectric Project (NJHP) in Nauseri, the administration of the 969-megawatt project clarified on Monday.

The administration issued a press release after speculations started about the shortage of potable water in Muzaffarabad after the diversion of the river’s water.

The speculations started when the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) issued a statement.

“Since the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is to initiate the process for filling of dam at Nauseri from October 16, it runs the risk of affecting water supply within the city,” PHED had said in a statement and that “though the PHED will try to control the situation with its full capacity, yet the urban population should be informed to avoid being wasteful with water and instead use it judiciously”.

A number of people criticised the NJHP on social media for the making the move without taking remedial measures and some also announced they will protest against the plan.

People gathered by the bank of the River Neelum on Monday, assuming the diversion will leave it dry but the diversion was deferred reportedly due to technical reasons.

The clarification was then issued by the NJHP administration to “allay the fears and apprehensions” of residents of Muzaffarabad.

“There prevails an impression that due to the filling of the dam the river will completely dry up, affecting badly the areas downstream Nauseri, and that it will [leave a foul smell] due to the less discharge of water… We want to make it clear that the whole water of the river will not be diverted at any cost,” said the NJHP administration.

The NJHP will be diverting the water of River Neelim from Nauseri, 41 kilometres northeast of Muzaffarabad through a tunnel passing under the Riber Jhelum. The outfall tunnel is at Zaminabad, 25 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad.

“Under an agreement with the AJK government, at least 530 cusecs water will be made available in the river,” the NJHP administration said in its press release.

However, it did not clarify if this amount of water will be released from the dam site in Nauseri or if it will be released in Muzaffarabad after the inclusion of downstream tributaries.

The NJHP administration said there will be no problems in the summer when the flow of water will be almost normal at up to 18,000 cusecs.

“In the beginning only 425 cusecs water will be stopped till mid Jan 2018, and [until then] approximately 1,800 cusecs of remaining water will continue to flow in the river,” it said, “therefore, the apprehensions in this regard are not correct.”

The NJHP administration also dispelled the impression that the decreased discharge of water will affect the Makri Water Supply Project in Muzaffarabad leading to shortage of tap water in the capital city.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017