Pak seeks inspection before commissioning of Baglihar Dam

Pakistan has demanded that it wants to inspect the Baglihar Dam to see if India has complied with the World Bank neutral experts verdict regarding the power projects design.

Islamabad, Jan.31 : Pakistan has demanded that it wants to inspect the Baglihar Dam to see if India has complied with the World Bank neutral expert's verdict regarding the power project's design.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said that the Indus Basin Treaty Commissioner for Pakistan has contacted his Indian counterpart for this purpose.

According to the Daily Times, Islamabad's demand has surfaced after New Delhi announced that the first phase of the 450MW project on the Chenab River in Indian-controlled Kashmir would be commissioned by June this year.

Sadiq said Pakistan hoped that the World Bank's decision regarding specifications of the dam would be implemented by India in letter and spirit.

The World Bank-appointed neutral expert had asked India to reduce the height of the dam by one and a half metres. The dam's height was originally proposed to be 144.5 metres.

In 2005, Pakistan had sought the World Bank's intervention as the third party to the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, alleging that the construction of the project violated the accord. The expert had upheld three of the four objections raised by Pakistan. Reservations about the spillway were, however, rejected.

ANI