Pak team inspects Baglihar dam in Ramban

Jammu, Oct 20 (UNI) A seven-member delegation from Pakistan today inspected the Baglihar hydro-power generation plant in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The delegation, led by Mr Syed Jamait Ali Shah, Secretary, Works, arrived yesterday for inspection.

''The Pakistan team wanted to see if the water is being stored as agreed under the Indus-water treaty or not,'' sources told UNI.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh commissioned 450-MW first phase of prestigious 900-MW Baglihar hydro-electricity project on river Chenab at Chanderkot (Ramban) on October 10.

Dr singh, on the commissioning of the project, said no provision of the Indus water treaty with Pakistan had been violated.

The Baglihar power project, the work on which started in 1999, has remained a bone of contention between the two countries with Islamabad objecting the height of the dam, alleging it being built in contravention to the Treaty provisions.

Pakistan alleged that India had blocked Chenab water in violation of the Treaty -- signed in 1960 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan. The World Bank is a signatory as a third party to the Treaty.

UNI VBH-VJ ARB1934