Tawi barrage within Indus Water Treaty limits: J&K Govt

Jammu, Jan 18 (PTI) Responding to allegations that theJammu Lake project was coming up in violation of the IndusWater Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan, Jammu andKashmir Government today said the project was well within thepermissible limits of the treaty.

"The construction of the barrage on river Tawi to carveout a lake is well within the permissible limits of the IndusWater Treaty," Minister for Irrigation and Flood Control TajMohiuddin said here.

Chairing a review meeting of irrigation projects, he saidthe construction of the said project does not violate any ofprovisions of the IWT signed in 1964.

A section of the media had reported that the lake comingup here was in violation of the treaty.

Mohiuddin said the total cultivable command area andirrigated command in the State are well below the thresholdlimits as put up by the treaty.

As per the treaty, the pondage limit is four lac acreswhich is yet to be exploited, he said, adding, this is inaddition to the one lakh acre limit of irrigation acreage yetto be attained in the region.

Mohiuddin said the aim of the project is to preventexcess water during floods from being wasted and use it toirrigate more land and promote water transport in the river,giving it an aesthetic look.

The Minister asked engineers to use modern technology toprevent water wastage and seepage in canals and irrigationsystems so that water reaches more and more people and areas.