PM seeks review of IWT to check floods in Kashmir

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has sought review of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) for increasing water carrying capacity of Jhelum to prevent floods in Kashmir.
According to officials, who didn’t wish to be quoted, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) which is assisted in the matter by officials of the Central Water Commission and the state government is reviewing IWT to assess any objection from Pakistan in releasing over 50,000 cusecs of Jhelum water into Wular Lake by construction of flood channel.
The Wular waters drain into Pakistan and the proposed flood channel will drain out excess water from Sangam through Awantipora to discharge it into the lake.
Officials said the government has discussed the proposal at the level of the PMO “and there are suggestions that instead of constructing the flood channel storage facilities will be created in the catchment of river Jhelum to hold water for temporary period during rains before it could be released into the river”.
A senior government official said the central government has agreed to fund the proposal to increase existing carrying capacity of river Jhelum by expanding the flood channel that passes through Bemina and through dredging of the river.
The discharge of Jhelum will be raised to 60000 cusecs with these measures while the flood channel from Awantipora is required to be constructed as in September 2014 discharge of the river had increased to over 1.6 lakh cusecs, officials said.
The government officials said the IWT between India and Pakistan has already put Jammu and Kashmir at disadvantage and limited the potential of the state to generate power and it would be used as a ground in seeking funds of over Rs 18,000 crore project to increase the discharge level in Jhelum.
“Central government has been reluctant to fund construction of additional flood channel to increase the carrying capacity of Jhelum to over 1 lakh cusecs, but it has now agreed to partly fund the project by approving works of desilting of Jhelum and expansion of Bemina flood channel,” a senior government official said.
Officials said even if Centre approves the flood channel and storage capacity now, which was being pursued by the state for the last over five years, it will take at least eight years to complete the project.
However, Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Javed Jaffer said: “We are fully geared up to meet any eventuality and we will soon begin the work for dredging of Jhelum.”
“We are looking at creating the storage facilities to prevent floods in collaboration with the central government,” he added.