After more than 40 years, India issues a tender for the Sawalkote project as India is in the form of Indus Treaty

Srinagar: India, taking advantage of maintaining the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, floated international tenders for the construction of the Sawalkot hydroelectric project on the Chenb River on Wednesday after 40 years.The project, nominated as one of the national importance, was delayed by the Indus Waters Treaty structure due to a long delay due to objections from Pakistan as well as several regulatory and administrative obstacles, including compensation issues involving 13 affected villages, rehabilitation of army transit camps in Ramban, and compensation and compensation under environmental rules.The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) on Wednesday launched the tendering process for the power project located near Sidhu village in Ramban district of J&K. The last date for submission of online dialects is 10 September. This invited international dialects on the basis of competitive bid for plan, design and engineering works for the 1,856 MW project. The last date for depositing online dialects is 10 September.The construction of the Sawalkote project is a major strategic development that aims to adapt to the use of Indus water in India, while the treaty with Pakistan remains in interest. The 1960 Treaty gave India control of Beas, Ravi and Sutlej rivers, and Pakistan The Indus, Chenb and Jhelum, with India allowed a portion of water from “Western rivers (under Pakistan control)” for some uses.J&A Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the Minister of Power, told TOI that the project is very important and hopes it will finally be closed. “The project was originally conceived in the 1980s, but was given shelter after some time. In 1996, Dr. Farooq Abdullah attempted to revive it with the help of a Norwegian Consortium, but this attempt was not successful. Later, during my previous tenure, during my previous tenure, we tried to start the project completely, but it was fully tried, but it was fully faced by the government.”Ramban MLA Arjun Singh Raju was the first person to announce the development of Wednesday, called it a historic moment. He said, “Solcot power project is the largest in the country. Once it is completed, it will not only benefit Jammu and Kashmir, but the whole country will benefit. I think it is a historic moment,” he said, “and credit goes to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who fought continuously for the project,” he said.The run-off-river project is estimated at Rs 22,704.8 crore and will be developed in two phases.Raju said, “All issues have now been resolved,” NHPC has also rested on water cess, which had earlier delayed progress.Earlier this month, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) provided the “in-Principal” approval for the turn of 847 hectares of forest land for the construction of the Sawalkote project.In 1984, Socking Project, sources said it was given to NHPC in 1985. In 1997, it was given back to Jammu and Kashmir State Electricity Development Corporation (JKSPDC) for execution. Sources said that around Rs 430 crore was spent on the “infrastructure enabling” by JKSPDC around the project. But no work on the main project was started. Then, in 2021, an MoU was signed with NHPC to revive and implement the project under the build-on-operate-transfer model.