IWT Accord with Pakistan: Modi Clears Laying of Overhead Transmission Lines for Pakal Dul
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 6: While sending a strong message to Pakistan that India’s water resources which “once flowed to another country” will now be reserved for the benefit of Indians, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday granted permission for laying of overhead transmission lines for the 1,000 MW capacity Pakal Dul hydropower project in Jammu and Kashmir, the biggest and most crucial in the region, fast approaching its completion.
It will be the first storage project on the western rivers that flow to Pakistan and will have the capacity to hold water. An official notification granting permission to the Chenab Valley Power Projects Ltd to lay transmission lines for the Pakal Dul project was issued on Tuesday.
The process for the same had been going on since early 2024 and the permission coming through now shows the urgency with which the government is fast-tracking this project which could be ready by 2026.
Pakal Dul will be the highest dam in India at 167 metres. Pakistan had been objecting to the project, calling it a violation of the Indus Water Treaty as the dam will come up on one of the tributaries of the Chenab river in Kishtwar, J&K. But with a pause on the IWT in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, India is fast-tracking the project and Tuesday’s decision is a big step in this regard, top officials said.
This project is a storage scheme and can utilise the permissible storage of 0.1 MAF under the IWT. The Pakal Dul project is important because all the existing hydropower projects of India on the western rivers that flow to Pakistan are ‘run-of-the-river’ projects with minimal storage capacity. Pakal Dul will be India’s first storage project on these rivers, which can effectively store a larger quantity of water.
The project is proposed on river Marusudar, a tributary of river Chenab in Kishtwar and is around 45 km from Kishtwar. The project envisages construction of a 167-m high dam, an underground power house with four units of 250 MW each.
At 167 m, the concrete-faced rock fill dam is the highest dam of its kind in India and 72m of dam height progress with filling of 24.78 Lakh Cum was achieved during 2023-24. The Power Purchase Agreements in respect of Pakal Dul HE Project have also been signed.
The first Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for construction of the 7350-m Head Race Tunnel-1 of Pakal Dul HE Project was successfully launched in July 2023. The TBM deployed is one of the most advanced machine manufactured by M/s Herrenknecht, Germany considering the site geological conditions and is capable of simultaneous boring and segment lining. The dam works and Power House works of Pakal Dul HE Project are already in advanced stages.
With the start of the construction of the Head Race Tunnel, the project is now fast approaching its completion as per the target. Mr Modi had laid the foundation of the project on May 19, 2018.
Later speaking at a conclave hosted by a media house in Delhi, Mr Modi without naming Pakistan said, “Now, India’s waters will flow for India, will be retained for India, and will serve the interests of India.” He apparently was referring to the scrapping of the IWT agreement with Pakistan.
The ties between the two neighbouring countries plummeted following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. India, among other punitive actions, announced that it was putting in abeyance the 1960 IWT accord, which governs water sharing between the two countries. Earlier on April 24, Mr had vowed to punish the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terror attack and their backers.
