ISLAMABAD, May 22: There are signals that India may go for some changes in the controversial design of the 450mw Baglihar hydropower dam being constructed on the Chenab river in the occupied Kashmir.

Quoting unnamed sources, The Hindu daily reported on Sunday that “as a political gesture to Pakistan, India may consider some technical changes” in the design of the Baglihar project provided it could be done without compromising power generation and the safety of the dam.

According to the report, this was conveyed to Pakistan before President Musharraf’s recent visit to India.

Quoting sources it notes: “On Baglihar, India has indicated its willingness to Pakistan to consider on technical grounds the issues relating to provision of low-level intake, fixation of one low-level spillway crest to a higher level (for release of flood waters) and reduction of the freeboard level of the dam without compromising on the hydroelectric generation.”

When Dawn contacted relevant sources in the government on Sunday they said at the last round of bilateral negotiations on the Baglihar issue in New Delhi in January, the Indian side did suggest raising the level of one of the six spillways.

However, this was not considered adequate enough by the Pakistan side.

Meanwhile, following Pakistan’s formal request, the World Bank on May 10 appointed a Swiss national, Raymond Lafitte, civil engineer and professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, as the neutral expert to resolve the Baglihar issue.

According to informed sources, the neutral expert is examining the Baglihar-related documents and data submitted by both the parties to the World Bank.

After review of the documents, he would get in touch with the two governments and subsequently visit the project site as well as Islamabad and New Delhi, it is learnt.

Professor Lafitte’s task is to give a verdict on the “difference” between the two parties aimed at resolving the issue. However, if the verdict is not acceptable to one party, it would become a dispute and then has be referred to the court of arbitration.