SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said the 1979 agreement between the governments of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab is a sovereign commitment that must be honoured in letter and spirit and fully implemented.
While replying to a supplementary question by BJP MLA Darshan Kumar about compensation, employment for locals, and J&K’s 20 percent share of electricity from the Ranjit Sagar Dam project, the CM informed the Assembly today that he would take up the issue with the Punjab government and with his counterpart there.
“We will strive to ensure that the agreement signed in 1979 between J&K and Punjab is implemented in letter and spirit,” said Omar, who also holds the power portfolio.
The CM said he would personally engage with the Punjab Chief Minister to reiterate that the agreement constitutes a binding sovereign commitment between the two governments.
“There is no question of backtracking from the pact. I will remind and convince the Punjab CM to fulfill and honour the agreement,” he said.
According to him, as per the 1979 agreement, J&K is entitled to 20 percent of the total power generated at Thein Dam and Shahpur Kandi Barrage at bus bar cost.
“A power sale agreement between PSPCL and JKPCL was signed on October 11, 2019 for the sale and purchase of power from the Ranjit Sagar Dam project. However, no power is currently being injected into J&K’s system due to lack of transmission infrastructure. The provisional tariff payable to PSPCL stands at Rs 3.5 per kWh,” he said.
On compensation to project-affected families in J&K, the CM said the total compensation amount stands at Rs 85.48 crore, out of which Rs 71.15 crore has been released by the Punjab Government, leaving a pending amount of Rs 14.32 crore.