Mehbooba Mufti urges CM Omar abdullah to push for NHPC power projects’ return to J&K

A day after chief minister (CM) Omar Abdullah stressed that Indus Water Treaty (IWT) was restricting the UT’s ability to harness its huge hydel power potential, Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti joined the discourse and urged the CM to first seek return of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) power projects established in the UT from the Centre.
Mufti, while reacting to Omar’s speech during a conference of power ministers of states & UTs in New Delhi, said instead of making IWT an issue, the focus should be on the return of power projects which were handed over to NHPC.
“Omar’s and our focus should be that the government of India should return at-least two power projects to Jammu and Kashmir. In PDP’s agenda of alliance with BJP (in 2014), the BJP had agreed to return the projects. The Rangarajan committee has also recommended. Compensate us and if you are not returning the projects, give us the money,” Mufti said.
The former CM said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gives free electricity across India, up to 300-400 units in some cases, adding, “Jammu and Kashmir is the only state which, despite producing its electricity, lingers in darkness. Our electricity goes to NHPC and they sell the same to us.”
Abdullah had on Tuesday said the limiting clauses in the IWT restricts the UT from realising its full hydel potential by only permitting run-of-the-river projects. The UT, a government spokesperson quoting the CN said, pays a heavy price in peak winter months when power generation is low, creating hardships for its people.
Mufti said the BJP should not be allowed to make IWT an issue and create further tensions between India and Pakistan. “The BJP will make it an issue across the country like Article 370. If the issue then causes any problem with IWT, the repercussions will have to be borne by us. The BJP won’t be affected. Neither Punjab nor Rajasthan will be affected but Jammu and Kashmir will face more problems,” she added.
The leader said Jammu and Kashmir people become victims of violence as the two countries get into differences.
“You saw a grenade lobbed some days ago and a woman from Bandipora lost her life. We have faced violence and I think we should talk sensibly and not scratch those issues which are settled between the two countries,” she said, highlighting that the IWT was the only agreement [between India and Pakistan] that persisted despite the conflict and wars between.
“Sheikh Abdullah sb [Omar’s grandfather], as CM, handed over the Salal project to NHPC and we lost that project. In 1996, when Farooq Abdullah [Omar’s father] became CM, he handed over seven power projects to NHPC. This is not an ordinary issue,” she added.
Lone criticises CM’s remarks on IWT
People’s Conference President Sajad Lone also criticised the CM’s remarks, dismissing them as “right-wing gibberish” intended to appease the ruling-party BJP.
While calling IWT “unfair” to Jammu and Kashmir, Lone questioned, “May I as a Kashmiri ask what have the previous ruling parties, especially the NC, which has been in power for the longest time, done with our water resources?”
He added that projects controlled by NHPC are among its most profitable, yet Jammu and Kashmir remains a net power importer.