The Jammu and Kashmir government has suffered a loss of around Rs 17,000-crore after the Punjab Government breached agreements regarding the Ranjit Sagar Dam project, a top government official said.
The state has suffered losses due to the breach of agreement by the Punjab Government and it has been tentatively calculated of over Rs 17,000 crore since the commissioning of the Ranjit Sagar Dam project, Chairman of the Committee on Environment of state Legislative Council, Dr Syed Bashir Ahmad Veeri said.
The Veeri-led panel, which visited 600MW Ranjit Sagar Dam Project on river Ravi at the Kathua-bordered Punjab area and commissioned it in 2000, demanded for evolving a mechanism for its recovery from the Punjab Government.
Veeri also expressed concern over the damage caused to the environment and the losses the State suffered during this period.
The panel also stated that the state government should have taken up the matter with the Punjab Government for proper implementation of agreements reached between the two states in 1973 and 1979, the compensation for damage and losses suffered by it besides the water and electricity share due as per the contract.
Approximately 12 lakh trees, including three lakh forest trees, have been cut in the area but the subsequent afforestation has not been done, Veeri alleged.
The Chairman said that 85 per cent of states' resources have been utilised in the project but the share due for our state was not extended in accordance with the agreements signed.
Regarding power share, the Committee appeared stunned to know that only a single unit of electricity, out of the 600MW, has been made available despite the 20 per cent as per the project.
The panel recommended that the state government should vigorously pursue with the Punjab Government for getting its share as per the agreement and hoped that it will give a big relief to the power deficit.
