By Khaleeq Kiani | From the NewspaperFebruary 28, 2011 (2 days ago)
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India has been awarded carbon credits by the UNFCCC for two hydropower projects — Chutak and Nimoo-Bazgo — contested by Pakistan for allegedly being constructed in violation of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by India. — File photo
ISLAMABAD: The government has ordered three investigations into delays in raising timely objections over India’s efforts to secure international credit incentives to construct hydropower projects in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.
A senior government official told Dawn on Sunday that the ministry of water and power had taken up with the ministry of environment as to how New Delhi secured carbon credits from the United Nations for two hydropower projects — Chutak and Nimoo-Bazgo — being built by India in violation of the treaty.
The ministry of environment, the official said, was dumbfounded to learn that India was able to get carbon credits without clearance by Pakistan of cross-border environmental impact assessment reports of the two projects even though Islamabad’s representative heads a forum of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which approves such credits.
The ministry of environment referred the issue to the ministry of foreign affairs, which had taken it up for detailed investigation, said the water and power ministry official. The investigations were ordered after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sought feedback from relevant ministries on a Dawn report of July 19 last year.
The National Assembly’s climate change committee had also got briefings from officials of the ministries of water and power and foreign affairs and then demanded of the prime minister to ascertain “how this criminal negligence took place”.
Separately, Water and Power Secretary Javed Iqbal ordered an inquiry, led by a joint secretary of his ministry, to establish why and how officials of the ministry and Pakistan’s Permanent Indus Waters Commissioner (PIWC) delayed pursuing technical objections over not only these two projects but also over a dozen other projects being built by India. The projects include Kishanganga hydropower project, which has now been taken up with International Court of Arbitration.
Simultaneously, the power ministry has also raised objections over ‘unauthorised utilisation’ of funds by the PIWC in excess of appropriately allocated funds. The matter has now been referred for a ‘special audit’ to the Auditor General of Pakistan, he added.
India has been awarded carbon credits by the UNFCCC for two hydropower projects — Chutak and Nimoo-Bazgo — contested by Pakistan for allegedly being constructed in violation of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by India. Under the UNFCCC mechanism, carbon credits cannot be granted for a project having cross-boundary environmental impact unless cleared by relevant countries.
Officials said the main concern was that how India secured carbon credits when Pakistan was raising technical objections over the two projects at the forum of Permanent Indus Waters Commission and whether some officials had knowingly or unknowingly allowed trans-boundary EIAs. Officials said either Pakistani authorities had allowed trans-boundary environmental impact assessment or they remained criminally oblivious to the development despite representing Pakistan on the UN sub-committee on climate change.
They said the lapse might have already harmed Pakistan’s case on the projects.
Pakistan has raised the construction of the two projects at the Permanent Indus Commission. The under-construction 42-metre-high Chutak hydroelectric project is located on the Suru River, a tributary of Indus in the Kargil district of occupied Kashmir. The second project, a 57-metre-high Nimoo-Bazgo hydroelectric project, is being built in Leh district on the Indus River. Both projects were launched in 2005 and are nearing completion.
Under clause 37(b) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it was mandatory for India to get approval from Pakistan before it started getting carbon credits. But it has been earning carbon credits on the two projects for two years now under the Clean Development Mechanism Project.
The projects were approved by UNFCCC for carbon credits in August 2008, for which India had applied in March 2006. It was mandatory for India to obtain Environmental Assessment Report of both projects from Pakistan to earn carbon credits against the projects, but the project design documents of both projects were approved by CDM’s Executive Board of UNFCCC. This shows that trans-boundary environmental impacts of these projects had been conducted. India reported in its validation report for UNFCCC that trans-boundary environmental impacts were considered in line with procedures laid down by clause 37(c) of CDM modalities and procedure.
According to Arshad H. Abbasi, an adviser at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), both dams were at a height of more than 15 metres and fall under the category of large dams under the definition of International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) and hence required a detailed Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Report prior to physical execution of work on any large dams.
India has started building dams on Chenab, Indus and Jehlum rivers, also known as western rivers as per Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960. Mr Abbasi said it was an obligation for India to contact and get the Transboundary Environment Impact Reports (TEIR) ratified for all upcoming and ongoing projects including hydroelectric dams.
Mr Abbasi said India had already recognised the importance of TEIR while pleading the case of Baglihar dam in 2006 before a neutral expert. The neutral expert, he said, had held that detailed TEIR and ratification by Pakistan was mandatory for India before executing any project in the watershed of three western rivers as declared in the Indus Waters Treaty.
He urged the prime minister to seek TEIR of all ongoing development projects being executed in occupied Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to assess the trans-boundary impact of these projects on Pakistan.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/28/govt-wakes-up-to-indias-hydel-projects.html