Verbal Duel between Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti over Resumption of Wular Lake Project
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 16: A public spat broke out between the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and his predecessor and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti over the suggestion to restart the construction of the Tulbul navigation project on the Wular Lake with the former accusing the latter of “trying to score cheap publicity and to please someone across the border.”
While Ms Mufti termed Mr Abdullah’s remarks as “irresponsible” and “dangerously provocative,” the chief minister hit back saying she refuses to acknowledge that the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) for sharing water with Pakistan was a “historic betrayal” with the people of J&K because of her “blind lust” to score “cheap” publicity points, and please some people across the border.”
The controversy started after Mr Abdullah in a post on X on Thursday, had wondered if work could resume on the Tulbul Navigation Barrage project on Wular Lake in view of the suspension of the IWT. “The Wular Lake in North Kashmir. The civil works you see in the video is the Tulbul Navigation Barrage. It was started in the early 1980s but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing the Indus Water Treaty. Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended’ I wonder if we will be able to resume the project,” Abdullah posted on his personal X handle.
He said the Tulbul project, if completed, could help in using Jhelum for navigation purposes. “It will give us the advantage of allowing us to use the Jhelum for navigation. It will also improve the power generation of downstream power projects, especially in winter,” he added.
Also known as the Wular Lake project, it envisages controlled release of water from the Wular Lake during the lean-season months of October to February to facilitate year-round navigation for commercial trade, employment and tourism on the Jhelum river. The Centre had last month put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Responding to Mr Abdullah’s post, Ms Mufti on Friday took a dig at the chief minister, saying his call to revive the project was “deeply unfortunate.” “J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s call to revive the Tulbul Navigation Project amid ongoing tensions between India & Pakistan is deeply unfortunate.” She said such statements were not only “irresponsible” but “dangerously provocative” as well.
“At a time when both countries have just stepped back from the brink of a full-fledged war with Jammu and Kashmir bearing the brunt through the loss of innocent lives, widespread destruction and immense suffering such statements are not only irresponsible but also dangerously provocative.
“Our people deserve peace as much as anyone else in the country. Weaponising something as essential and life giving as water is not only inhumane but also risks internationalising what should remain a bilateral matter,” the PDP president said.
Following the remarks, Mr Abdullah hit back, saying the PDP president’s refusal to acknowledge that the IWT was a “historic betrayal” with the people of J-K was due to her “blind lust” to score “cheap publicity points” and “please” some people sitting across the border.
“Actually what is unfortunate is that with your blind lust to try to score cheap publicity points & please some people sitting across the border, you refuse to acknowledge that the IWT has been one of the biggest historic betrayals of the interests of the people of J&K,” he posted on X.
The J&K CM said he has always opposed the treaty and will continue to do so. “I have always opposed this treaty & I will continue to do so. Opposing a blatantly unfair treaty is in no way, shape, size or form “warmongering,” it’s about correcting a historic injustice that denied the people of J&K the right to use our water for ourselves,” he said.
Time will reveal who seeks to appease whom, Ms Mufti said in response, as the back-and-forth continued. “However, it’s worth recalling that your esteemed grandfather Sheikh Sahab once advocated for accession to Pakistan for over two decades after losing power. But post being reinstated as Chief Minister he suddenly reversed his stance by aligning with India,” she said.
On the contrary, she added, the PDP has consistently upheld its convictions and commitments, unlike the NC whose loyalties have shifted dramatically according to political expediency. “We don’t need to stoke tensions or adopt warmongering rhetoric to validate our dedication. Our actions speak for themselves,” she said.
Mr Abdullah told Ms Mufti that she can keep “advocating the interests of anyone you want to & I’ll keep advocating for the interests of the people of J&K to use our own rivers for our own benefit.” “Is that really the best you can do? Taking cheap shots at a person you yourself have called Kashmir’s tallest leader. I’ll rise above the gutter you want to take this conversation to by keeping the late Mufti Sahib and ‘North Pole South Pole’ out of this,” he said.
“I’m not going to stop the water, just use more of it for ourselves. Now I think I’ll do some real work & you can keep posting,” he added. In a separate post later, the Chief Minister shared a news report from 2016, which quoted Ms Mufti as saying that “Jammu and Kashmir has suffered due to the Indus Waters Treaty”. “Just leaving this out there because “consistency” is in such short supply,” he said.
To this, Ms Mufti clarified that she has never sought scrapping of the water pact. “Such a move could heighten tensions and once again place Jammu and Kashmir at the epicentre of conflict. Our resources like water must be used for life, not as weapons. You invoking IWT now is a reckless ploy to derail the ceasefire,” she said, adding “there’s nothing patriotic about fuelling instability”.
“PDP has consistently called for the return of power projects that NC handed over to NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited) on a platter at a pittance. Even in the PDP-BJP Agenda of Alliance, it was agreed that two projects would be returned to Jammu & Kashmir to compensate for losses from the Indus Waters Treaty,” she said.
The Tulbul Navigation project – that seeks to rejuvenate the Jhelum-fed Wular Lake in Bandipora district – was launched in 1987 but paused in 2007 amid objections from Pakistan that it violated the Indus Waters Treaty. With India suspending the Treaty on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack, Mr Abdullah on Thursday called for resumption of work in the project on Wular Lake.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty governing six common rivers, all the water of the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi amounting to around 33 million acre feet (MAF) annually – has been allocated to India for unrestricted use. The waters of western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab – amounting to around 135 MAF annually have been assigned largely to Pakistan.
As per the Indus Waters Treaty, signed on September 19, 1960, India has the right to generate hydroelectricity through run of the river projects on the western rivers subject to specific criteria for design and operation. Pakistan has the right to raise objections on the design of Indian hydroelectric projects on western rivers.
