Arbitration on India-Pak dam project row begins

Pakistan wanted India to suspend works on the Kishanganga Hydro-Electric Project till the Court of Arbitration constituted to settle the dispute reached its conclusion. But the lawyers representing Pakistan Government did not press for an interim order after the counsels of New Delhi strongly opposed Islamabad’s petition seeking suspension of works during the first hearing of the case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Friday.

The NHPC wants to commission the 3X110 MW project by January 2016. It involves construction of a 37-metre-high concrete-faced rock-fill dam on Kishanganga (known as Neelum in Pakistan) – a tributary of Jhelum – along with an underground powerhouse at Kralpore village near Bandipore in Baramulla district of J&K. The Court of Arbitration is headed by Justice Stephen M Schwebel, a US jurist and former president of the International Court of Justice.