Shah submits Baglihar site report to Shaukat Aziz

By Khalid Mustafa

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Commission of Indus Water (PCIW) Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah submitted his report to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz regarding the inspection of Baglihar Hydropower Project’s site, a senior official told Daily Times.

Shah headed a five-member delegation to inspect the project site from July 23 to July 30. He inspected the site as a government representative and not as the PCIW commissioner, a delegation member told Daily Times. He said that Shah’s report highlighted Indian violations of the Indus Waters Treaty in the project’s design. However, he refused to disclose the report’s major features.

The official said the report would also be submitted to Professor Raymond Lafitte, the neutral expert appointed by World Bank. He said that Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mehmood had delayed making an official case to review Shah’s report. “After Pakistan submits its case to the neutral expert, India will submit a counter case so that the neutral expert can deliberate without bias,” he added.

Professor Lafitte will inspect Baglihar’s site in October, said the official. He said that the expert would decide, after inspection, whether the issue was a difference or a dispute, adding that if it was adjudged a dispute then the World Bank and other international bodies would form a Court of Arbitration. He said the bank would appoint three members of the seven-member court, Pakistan two and India two.

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