Baglihar Dam

Baglihar Dam, also known as Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project, is a run-of-the-river power project on the Chenab River in the southern Doda district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. This project was conceived in 1992, approved in 1996 and construction began in 1999. The project is estimated to cost USD $1 billion. The first phase of the Baglihar Dam was completed in 2004. With the completion of the second phase on 10 October 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India dedicated the 900-MW Baglihar hydroelectric power project to the nation.Design controversy and verdictAfter construction began in 1999, Pakistan claimed that design parameters of Baglihar project violated the Indus Water Treaty (full text) of 1960. The treaty provided India with exclusive control over three eastern rivers, Near Beacon tunnel while granting Pakistan exclusive to three western rivers, including Chenab River. However it contained provisions for India to establish run-of-the-river power projects with limited reservoir capacity and flow control needed for feasible power generation. Availing this provision India established several run-of-the-river projects, with Pakistan objecting to these. Also in the case of the Baglihar and Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plants, Pakistan claimed that some design parameters were too lax than were needed for feasible power generation and provided India with excessive ability to accelerate, decelerate or block flow of the river, thus giving India a strategic leverage in times of political tension or war.