NA body for CCI meeting to take up Chashma-Jehlum Canal power plant NoC issue

ISLAMABAD, Nov 06 (APP):The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water Resources Wednesday unanimously suggested that a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) be called at the earliest to discuss issuance of a non-objection certificate (NoC) by the Indus River System Authority to M/S C-J Hydro (Pvt) Limited for the proposed 25 MW power project on Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal.

The committee, which met here with Nawab Muhammad Yusuf Talpur in the chair, also recommended that further processing of the project should also be stopped as the Sindh Assembly had also passed a unanimous resolution on the disputed issue.

The committee also suggested that IRSA should consult the Sindh government over the NoC issue.

The Secretary Irrigation Sindh informed the committee that the NoC was issued without the consultation of Sindh government. Such type of NoC in favour of Sindh was regretted by the power regulator NEPRA in 2016, he added.

He alleged that the IRSA issued the NOC in violation of the Water Accord 1991, which should be cancelled.

On the other hand, IRSA was of the view that the Water Accord 1991 provided freedom to the stakeholders to modify system-wise and period-wise uses within their allocations so the NoC in question was issued accordingly under the IRSA Act.

However, he suggested that the aggrieved party had all the rights within the section 8(3) of IRSA Act to approach the Council of Common Interests (CCI) against the decision of authority.

The Secretary Water Resources informed the committee that as the NoC was issued under the IRSA Act, so the recommendation of the committee to cancel the NoC was not based on the facts.

The committee deferred the agenda item regarding small and medium dams under construction and planning stage for the twin cities, with the view that the matter should be placed before the sub-committee already set up by the standing committee during its last meeting.