Shahpur Kandi Barrage: The foundation of this project was laid by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982.
Srinagar:
India has stopped the flow of water into Pakistan by building a dam on the Ravi river, which was waiting for completion for 45 years. India has exclusive rights over the waters of the Ravi under the Indus Water Treaty signed in 1960 under the supervision of the World Bank.
Shahpur Kandi Barrage located in Pathankot district of Punjab was halted due to the domestic dispute between Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. But due to this, a large part of India’s water went to Pakistan over the years.
Under the Indus Water Treaty, India has full rights over the waters of Ravi, Sutlej and Beas, while Pakistan has rights over the waters of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.
In 1979, the governments of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir signed an agreement to build the Ranjit Sagar Dam and the downstream Shahpur Kandi Barrage to stop water from flowing to Pakistan.
The agreement was signed by the then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal.
In 1982, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the project, which was expected to be completed by 1998.
While construction of the Ranjit Sagar Dam was completed in 2001, the Shahpur Kandi Barrage could not be built and the water of the Ravi River continued to flow into Pakistan.
The Shahpur Kandi project was declared a national project in 2008 but construction work began in 2013.
Ironically, the project was again stalled in 2014 due to disputes between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
Finally in 2018, the Center mediated and reached an agreement between the two states. The work, which began shortly thereafter, is finally finished.
The water which was going to Pakistan will now be used to irrigate two major districts of Jammu and Kashmir – Kathua and Samba. Now 32,000 hectares of land in the Union Territory will be irrigated with 1150 cusecs of water.
Jammu and Kashmir will also be able to get 20 percent of the hydroelectric power generated from the dam.
The 55.5 meter high Shahpurkandi Dam is part of a multi-purpose river valley project consisting of two hydropower projects with a total installed capacity of 206 MW. It is built on the Ravi River, 11 km downstream from the Ranjit Sagar Dam Project.
Apart from Jammu and Kashmir, the water of the dam will also help Punjab and Rajasthan.
