J-K CM orders setting up of panel over Shahpur Kandi project

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today ordered setting up of a high-level panel, to be headed by the state's Chief Secretary, for resolving issues regarding Shahpur Kandi Barrage project with the Punjab government.
The instructions in this regard were passed by the Chief Minister while chairing a high-level meeting to discuss issues related to the construction of Shahpur Kandi Barrage project in Kathua district of Jammu region, an official spokesman said here.
He said the panel will have Financial Commissioner Planning, Development and Monitoring Department and Administrative Secretaries of Power, Revenue and Law Departments as its members and the committee shall take up the unsorted issues with the Punjab government.

While the state government is ready to sort out all issues related to the Shahpur Kandi Barrage project with Punjab it has to be ensured that Jammu and Kashmir's interests are properly served and not compromised, Mehbooba said.
She said the state has suffered huge losses on account of the Punjab government not honoring the 1979 agreement under which the state needs to be compensated properly.
The Chief Minister called for a time-bound settlement of all pending issues with the Punjab government to realise the state's due share in power supply as well as irrigation, the spokesman said.

He said Mehbooba was informed that the present issue of construction of Shahpur Kandi Barrage has its provenance in the agreement signed on January 29, 1979, regarding Thein Dam and Power Plant Scheme between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

However, since the inception of the agreement, various issues pertaining to irrigation, power, compensation and employment have cropped up, which are required to be resolved for reaping benefits as per the agreed entitlements, he said.
The meeting was informed that the state government had got the barrage's construction work stopped in 2014, following promulgation of Punjab government's controversial legislation Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 and pending issues related to Ranjit Sagar Dam including land compensation, employment, facilities for dam oustees and acquisition of additional submerged land, the spokesman said.