The Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 for the sharing of the river waters gives India the right to utilise the waters of three eastern rivers the Ravi, Beas and Satluj.
Some of the Ravi waters are currently wasted through the Madhopur headworks downstream to Pakistan. The waste can be minimised when the Shahpurkandi Dam project on the river becomes operational — the dam is almost ready, but yet not completed.
Often viewed as a measure to prevent the Ravi waters from going to Pakistan, the purpose of the Shahpurkandi Dam project is other than the perceived notion.
In pipeline Since 1979
A bilateral agreement was signed between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir in January 1979 for the construction of the Shahpurkandi Dam, but the proposed project couldn’t see the light of day.
In 2001, during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the project was included under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Scheme (AIBP) but stalled again.
In 2009, the revised cost of the Shahpurkandi Dam National project was pegged at Rs 2,285.81 crore, but the construction work could not progress due to paucity of funds from time to time under different governments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government made a fresh effort and an agreement was reached between Punjab and J&K in New Delhi on September 8, 2018.
Politics
The notion of stopping waters to Pakistan is understood to have given a fillip to the BJP politics in the Hindi belt.
Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Cabinet had in 2018 approved a central assistance of Rs 485.38 crore (for the irrigation component) for the project.
The Bhartiya Janta Party has been accusing successive governments at the Centre and J&K of “deliberately stalling” the Shahpurkandi Dam National project for over 45 years.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the Shahpurkandi Ravi Canal at the riverside in 2021, Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh had said, “History will seek answers as to what were political compulsions behind this delay.”
Technical details
According to the Punjab government website, the 55.5m high dam with two powerhouses having a total installed capacity of 206 MW, is being constructed across the Ravi, 11 km downstream of the Ranjit Sagar Dam project and 8 km upstream of the Madhopur headworks. The project will have an irrigation potential of 37,173 hectares (5,000 in Punjab and 32,173 in J&K), intensive irrigation in the UBDC system and a regulated supply to Rajasthan.
It shall also act as a balancing reservoir qua the Ranjit Sagar Dam project since, its releases, guided more by the power-generation considerations, are playing havoc with the Upper Bari Doab Canal System.
The Shahpurkandi Dam project was declared a ‘National Project’ by the Union Ministry of Water Resources in February 2008.
As per the guidelines of the National Project, the central government shall provide 90% of the cost of the irrigation component as the central assistance and 10% shall be provided by the Punjab government. The Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd shall provide funds for the power component.
Impact on water going to Pakistan
The quantity of Ravi water flowing down to Pakistan in the absence of the Shahpurkandi dam is not much. It’s only during the rainy season that the excess water goes to Pakistan.
Talking to The Indian Express, Sher Singh, chief engineer, dams, Punjab Irrigation Department, said, “Almost 98% of work has been done, but the Shahpurkandi Dam project has not been completed yet. It will take two more months.”
On the Ravi water going to Pakistan, he said, “Ravi water is not going to Pakistan. It’s only during the rainy season, the extra water flows down to Pakistan. But now we will be able to store that extra water in the dam.”
“The Ranjit Sagar dam on the Ravi controls the flow of water as per our requirements. But there are some catchment areas downstream the Ranjit Sagar dam and water from these areas will go to the Ravi base, which we can store now,” he said.
“We can’t give an exact figure about how much water will be stored as it depends on the rainy season every year. But that quantity of water going to Pakistan is not much,” Singh added.
Actual benefits
The Ravi water is being used for irrigation in Jammu and Punjab by the lift technique.
“Earlier, the lift technique was being used for irrigation. Now much simpler ‘gravity’ will be used for the same purpose. It will be a simple process,” Singh said.
He said, “The biggest benefit of the Shahpurkandi Dam is now more than 32,000 hectares in J&K will come under irrigation and around 5,000 in Punjab.”
“The second biggest benefit is power generation. We will have 206 MW hydro powerhouse ready by the next year and we will have this additional energy available from the dam,” he said.
Read More:98% of work done, Shahpurkandi Dam’s real benefit is irrigation, and not preventing Ravi’s water from flowing down to
2024-02-27 03:17:59