Lethal change of course
by Arshad H. Abbasi THE Kishanganga hydroelectric project is being developed on the Kishanganga (Neelum) river, a tributary of the Jhelum, in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. The project involves the construction of a 37-metre-high concrete faced rock-fill dam and an underground powerhouse to generate 330MW of hydroelectricity. The river water will be diverted to a 22km-long tunnel into the Wullar lake. The tunnel is about to be completed in spite of the protest of the people of the Gurez valley. This diversion will change the course of the Neelum by around 204km. It will finally join the Jhelum through Wullar lake near Bandipore town in the Baramulla district of Indian-administered Kashmir. At present, the Neelum and Jhelum join each other near Muzaffarabad at Domail. As a consequence of this diversion, Pakistan’s Neelum valley is likely to dry up and become a desert. The most important issue here is the diversion of the Neelum river waters to the Wullar lake. The justific...