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Pakistani Kashmir Residents Fear Power Project Will Destroy Economy,
Livelihood

Roshan Mughal

   MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR -- Shoukat Nawaz remembers
   the days when he could enjoy the fresh cold air on his balcony in a
   three-story house along a riverbank in Muzaffarabad, the capital of
   Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Today, a stench greets him as he goes
   outside.

   "Now it stinks here. The smell is really bad, and the temperature has
   also changed because the water level has dropped so much," said Nawaz,
   a 46-year-old bookseller.

   Nawaz was one of hundreds of locals -- including members of political
   parties andtrade unions, students, andactivists --who joined a
   torch-bearing rally Monday evening in Muzaffarabad against the
   diversion of two rivers flowing through the city.

   The Save the Rivers Campaign that organized Monday's protest blames the
   changes in river flow on a hydropower project, the Neelum-Jhelum
   Hydroelectric Project, that diverted one of the two rivers that flow
   through the city to a tunnel to generate electricity.

   A second initiative in the pipeline, the Kohala Hydroelectric Power
   Project, plans to similarly divert the other river. The 1,100-megawatt
   project is being built by a Chinese company, the China Three Gorges, at
   a cost of $2.4 billion.It is expected to come online in 2026.

   It is facing intense opposition from campaigners who say they have seen
   the negative impact of the first project and fear the collective effect
   of the two would completely destroy the river's ecology, the
   surrounding city's environment, and the tourism industry that supports
   the livelihood of many locals.

   The head of Pakistani Kashmir's environmental protection agency, Adnan
   Khurshaid, said environmental impact studies had been done and
   standards and safeguards identified before allowing the project to go
   forward.

   The two rivers, Neelum and Jhelum, flow through the mountainous city
   together. Their water, glacial melt, used to be ice cold in summer,
   maintaining the city's temperature and making it a thriving tourist
   destination. They also served as a natural waste management system for
   the city's untreated sewerage.

   The Pakistan government body, Water and Power Development Authority
   (WAPDA), responsible for the Neelum-Jhelum project, promised to build
   several sewage treatment plants andthree artificial lakes to maintain
   temperature, and to retain a certain water level in the river at all
   times.

   Residents said while the project came online in 2018, none of the three
   promises has yet to be fulfilled, leading to not just environmental
   damage but a negative impact on the health of the local community.

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