Kashmir to assess water loss due to treaty with Pakistan

Jammu, March 20 : The Jammu and Kashmir government will hire a private agency to assess water losses suffered by the state due to the Indus Water Treaty provisions that restrict the use of its three rivers.

Official sources said Friday the state cannot harness the waters of the Jhelum, Indus and Chenab as much as it would have liked to because of the restrictions.

Under the 1960 World Bank-brokered treaty, India has got complete control over the waters of three rivers - Ravi, Sutlej and Beas - that flow into Pakistan through Punjab.

In exchange, Pakistan has the right to monitor the usage of all the three rivers of Jammu and Kashmir.

Kashmir's opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the central government to compensate it for the losses due to the treaty. "Jammu and Kashmir must be compensated," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has repeated in her public addresses.

"It is a treaty between India and Pakistan and we have the right to ask for compensation from Delhi", she told IANS.

A government Official said: "Unless there is a complete picture of how much we have lost, how can we project our case for compensation?"