Srinagar, May 15,: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called for the resumption of the long-stalled Tulbul Navigation Barrage project in North Kashmir, citing the recent “temporary suspension” of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) as an opportunity to revisit critical water infrastructure initiatives.
In a post on social media platform X, Abdullah highlighted the strategic and developmental significance of the Tulbul project near Wular Lake. “The Wular Lake in North Kashmir. The civil works you see in the video is the Tulbul Navigation Barrage. It was started in the early 1980s but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing the Indus Water Treaty,” he wrote.
He added that the current pause in the treaty’s implementation might pave the way for restarting the project. “Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended,’ I wonder if we will be able to resume the project. It will give us the advantage of allowing us to use the Jhelum for navigation,” Abdullah stated.
The Chief Minister also underlined that the revival of the barrage would significantly boost power generation in downstream hydroelectric projects, especially during the winter months when water flow is at its lowest.
The Tulbul Navigation Project, aimed at regulating water flow from Wular Lake into the Jhelum River, was conceived as a vital inland navigation and irrigation initiative. However, it has remained in limbo for decades due to objections from Pakistan under the provisions of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. [KNT]
