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• The Civil Society group spearheading the Movement for Return of Power Projects from the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Tuesday warned of moving the court if the state government failed to get these back.“The NHPC has failed to provide lease or ownership rights documents on Salal, Dul Hasti and Uri Civil. The NHPC had been given deadline up to November 12. But it seems the government is not serious,” Bashir Asad, a member of the Group told reporters.The Group members met the chief secretary, Madhav Lal, and commissioner / secretary, PHE and Irrigation, Mehboob Iqbal, in Jammu and handed over a memorandum titled “Demand of Justice” to Lal.In the memorandum, the Group asked what steps the government had taken against the NHPC after the expiry of November 12 deadline.
• Under the State Water Resources Act, action by the government could range from penalizing the Corporation to stopping water supply to its projects.The Corporation, which is setting up another five to seven projects in the state, had to complete formalities including obtaining license from the Irrigation Department within one year to harness state water resources for power generation from four power projects presently run by it -480 mw Uri-I, 390 mw Dulhasti, 690 mw Salal and 120 mw Sewa-II.
• “Though the deadline expired on November 12, the state government adopted a casual approach after blowing the trumpet on the issue for almost a year,” the Group members said.The Civil Society Group warned it would approach the High Court again in case the state government failed to take over the projects immediately. It would also launch a mass awareness campaign on the issue.“In case, the state people take to streets, launch any resistance campaign or staged protests against the nonchalance of state authorities, the state government will be squarely responsible for any consequences,” the Group cautioned.Meanwhile, confirming the receipt of the Group’s memorandum, minister for PHE and Irrigation, Taj Mohiuddin, said the government would respond to the Civil Society Group in two weeks. “The state government is serious on the return of power projects from the NHPC and the required steps are being taken for the purpose,” he said, adding a special committee headed by the chief secretary, Madhav Lal, which had been entrusted with the take over of the projects from the NHPC, was seized of the matter.

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