Excess water to be diverted to Punjab after meeting J&K needs
*Step aimed to prevent water outflow to Pakistan
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 21: In a landmark decision, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry has given the green signal to the revised proposal of the Ujh Multipurpose Project in Kathua district. The project will transform the region by boosting irrigation, enhancing power generation and ensuring better water management for both Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. More importantly, the project will help curb the unutilized flow of water to Pakistan.
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Reliable sources told Excelsior that the Technical Advisory Committee, in its recent meeting, held detailed deliberations on the revised proposal of the Ujh Multipurpose Project in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir and finally accorded approval, keeping in view the newly incorporated cost-benefit ratio aspects and its significance in the backdrop of the decision of the Government of India to prevent the flow of water to Pakistan, especially after keeping the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance.
The decision of the Technical Advisory Committee has been welcomed by Union Minister and Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Kathua, Dr Jitendra Singh, who said that Ujh Multipurpose Project would benefit Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir in multiple ways.
“The project will support farmers in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in Punjab through assured irrigation, increase crop productivity and encourage diversification into high-value agriculture,” he said, adding, “better utilization of available water resources will reduce wastage and prevent excess flows from crossing over to Pakistan, aligning with the national priorities of maximizing in-country use of river waters”.
Dr Singh, who has been a strong votary of reviving the project after the earlier decision to shelve it on the grounds of poor returns on capital investment, said, “the inter-ministerial arrangement between the Ministries of Home and Water Resources held detailed deliberations on all aspects to push forward the proposal for construction of the dam on the Ujh.”
The TAC has agreed to the proposal of diverting excess water, after meeting the requirements of Jammu and Kashmir, to Punjab instead of allowing it to flow across the border, especially after keeping the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance following the terror attack on tourists in the Baisaran area of Pahalgam, sources said.
Disclosing that the capacity of the Ujh Multipurpose Project will be to retain 900 million cubic meters of water, sources said the tentative requirement of Jammu and Kashmir will be around 500 million cubic meters, and the remaining 400 million cubic meters will be diverted to Punjab. “The arrangement with Punjab will not be permanently confined to 400 million cubic meters, and the quantum of water to be diverted will be worked out only after meeting the requirements of Jammu and Kashmir”, they added.
They informed that water will be diverted to Punjab through a canal tunnel directly from the reservoir of the Ujh Multipurpose Project to the reservoir of the Ranjit Sagar Dam. “The tentative cost of the project will be around Rs 11,000 crore, and it will be funded by the Government of India, especially in light of the fact that it was declared a National Project in the year 2008”, sources said, adding, “the exact cost of the project will be worked out only at the stage of the formulation of the Detailed Project Report”.
With the approval of the Technical Advisory Committee, the Ministry of Jal Shakti will forward all relevant details to the Central Water Commission (CWC) for preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR), and finally, the DPR, with all approvals from the concerned quarters, will be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
Even the earlier Detailed Project Report was prepared by the Central Water Commission. However, the project could not move forward due to the cost-benefit ratio aspect.
The multipurpose project is proposed to be built on River Ujh, one of the main tributaries of River Tawi. The dam site has been proposed at village Barbari, about 1.6 kilometres downstream of Panjtirthi, and the powerhouse site 9.5 kilometres downstream of the dam site near village Deoli.
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