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Islamabad: India\u2019s Ministry of Environment has been pondering clearances for a slew of controversial hydroelectric projects on the Chenab River without sharing serious apprehensions that leading environmentalists have expressed over their threat to a fragile Himalayan ecology.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, a panel under the ministry approved the 260-megawatt Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on the Chenab River in Kishtwar district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir last week.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in October, it was reported that environmental clearances were revived for the larger Sawalkote hydro-electric project on the same river.<\/p>\n
The clearances came against the backdrop of India unilaterally suspending the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Office has sounded the alarm on New Delhi\u2019s \u201cweaponisation of water\u201d following abrupt variations in the flow of the Chenab and Jhelum rivers, which caused consternation among farmers in Punjab.<\/p>\n
The Sawalkote project has been in the works for decades, and has faced numerous delays related to forest clearances and the compliance compulsions of the Indus Waters Treaty. As of now, the 1,856MW project is still said to be in the pre-construction stage. Its environment clearances have been reheated several times over.<\/p>\n
The Dulhasti Stage II is a 258MW project, conceived as a complementary run-of-the-river scheme to utilise the water discharged from the existing 390MW Dulhasti Power Station \u201cmore efficiently\u201d. It is a smaller component of the frequently discussed Chenab basin projects. It is expected to cost around $35 million.<\/p>\n
According to The Hindu, \u201cWith the treaty now in abeyance, the centre is pushing ahead with several hydroelectric projects in the Indus basin, such as Sawalkote, Ratle, Bursar, Pakal Dul, Kwar, Kiru, and Kirthai I and II.\u201d<\/p>\n
The total land requirement for the project is estimated at 60.3 hectares. This project will require 8.27 hectares of private land from two villages, Benzwar and Palmar, in Kishtwar district, The Hindu reported.<\/p>\n
The question environmentalists are posing focuses greatly on a primary concern related to climate change.<\/p>\n
Water bodies are drying up rapidly. Chenab forms at the confluence of Chandra and Bhaga rivers in Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. According to the Indus Waters Treaty, Chenab is a Western River, allocated to Pakistan.
\nFrom the treaty\u2019s signing up to the year 2004-05, studies estimate that glacial volume in the Chenab basin has reduced by a whopping 33.3pc.<\/p>\n
This is what the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People NGO says: \u201cFor a river whose flows are made up of 50% meltwater when it leaves India at Akhnoor, this is shocking for both India and Pakistan\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlaciers, the water stored in them, the slow release of this water in spring and summers is the key to water security of the entire Himalayan region. Sixty per cent irrigation in the entire Indus basin depends on glacial melt. As the glaciers are concentrated in the Indian Himalayas, their health and sustenance is crucial for millions in both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad: India\u2019s Ministry of Environment has been pondering clearances for a slew of controversial hydroelectric projects on the Chenab River without sharing serious apprehensions that leading environmentalists have expressed over their threat to a fragile Himalayan ecology. According to Kashmir Media Service, a panel under the ministry approved the 260-megawatt Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":191414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-191413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","tag-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/12\/chanab-dam.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191415,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191413\/revisions\/191415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}