Srinagar, May 13: Not a drop of water or single unit of electrical energy has flown to J&K from Thein Dam, a major “joint venture” hydroelectric and irrigation project by Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
The three neighboring states in 1973 had entered in to an agreement to construct the dam with a reservoir area of 87 square kilometers and storage capability of 2,344 million cubic feet of water.
The dam constructed at Thein village (submerged since long) of Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and bordering Punjab, was to be a gigantic multipurpose project, with a capacity to generate 600 MWs of electricity and was to be an embodiment of inter-state relationship in the post 1947 federal cooperative structure of India.
As per the agreement, the Punjab was to invest money into the run of the river project on River Ravi and the land was to be provided by Jammu and Kashmir because of its geographical suitability for the venture.
The agreement stipulated that Jammu and Kashmir would get 20 percent of the power generated at bus bar rate and 1150 cubic feet (cusecs) of water per second.
Since many villages and townships of Kathua and even Samba districts were either submerged (some fully others partially) and thousands of people uprooted, it was settled that 15 percent of the total employment to be generated during the construction of the project shall be provided to the affected people of these areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
The project was commissioned in August 2000 and dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee in March 2001.
Rechristened as Ranjit Sagar Dam, in memory of the Maharaj Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh empire in the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century, the dam however has been a complete disappointment for Jammu and Kashmir.
The dislocated people of Basohli, Thein, Shapur and Madhopur were provided only half of the compensation, jobs were denied and flow of water and electricity was absolutely refused, said a senior Power Development Department (PDD) official.
Interestingly 4.6 percent of energy generated is supplied free of cost to Himachal Pradesh. Its areas adjoining the dam have got recreation facilities and socio-economic benefits have also trickled to its people, said the PDD official.
“Careless and weak rulers having little meaning for the people of the state, have simply failed to manage and preserve the assets and interests of the state,” says Shakeel Qalander, a former president of the Federation Chamber of Industries, Kashmir.
He recalled a 2003 meeting of a Kashmir-based civil society groups with Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Some plans were initiated but were left midway, he said.
“Neither the Azads, the Abdullahs, or even the present government have troubled themselves to get this wrong rectified,” said the PDD official.
He said that Jammu and Kashmir by this prejudice has suffered a loss of Rs 6500 crores on account of electricity alone so far.
Nearly one lakh acres of kandi land would have been irrigated under the agreement in the kandi districts of Kathua and Samba had the custodians of the public trust been sincere to their people, say experts.
The irrigation infrastructure would have revolutionized the agriculture sector in the state which according to sources is facing negative growth.
The role of the politicians and civil society groups from Jammu in fighting for this justified cause of their people has been quite nauseating and shameful. Instead they are busy in opiating the masses with a false Hindutva pride by inciting them against Kashmir and the people associated with their religious and political identity, the experts added.
