India has begun work to expand two hydroelectric projects in Indian occupied Kashmir amid recent standoff with Pakistan which led to suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, UK news agency Reuters reported on Monday citing sources.
A “reservoir flushing” process to remove sediment began on Thursday, carried out by India’s biggest hydropower company, state-run NHPC Ltd, and authorities in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the three sources said.
The work may not immediately threaten supply to Pakistan, which depends on rivers flowing through India for much of its irrigation and hydropower generation, but it could eventually be affected if other projects launch similar efforts.
There are more than half a dozen such projects in the region.
India did not inform Pakistan about the work at the Salal and Baglihar projects, which is being done for the first time since they were built in 1987 and 2008/09, respectively, as the treaty had blocked such work, the report added.
Since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, in addition to numerous short conflicts.
