The governments of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir on Friday formally agreed to resume the work on the long stalled Shahpur Kandi project.
The 'Ratification of Agreement' was exchanged and between the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ms Mehbooba Mufti the Punjab Irrigation and Power Minister, Rana Gurjeet Singh, who was representing the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who is away to the United Kingdom. Rana Gurjeet led a high powered delegation which included senior officials from the departments of power and irrigation.
The decision for resumption of work was ratified by the Cabinets of two respective States and the ratification of agreement was exchanged on Friday.
While the Punjab cabinet had ratified the decision long back to resume the work on the Shahpur Kandi project, the Jammu and Kashmir government ratified the decision last month. The power project will have a capacity of 206 MWs.
The project will be monitored by the Central Water Commission. The JK government had objected and stalled the work on the project about three years ago. It was after sustained deliberations between the two governments and the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office that the two states finally agreed to resume the work.
Rana Gurjeet said, it was mutually beneficial for the both states of Punjab as well as Jammu and Kashmir. He said, not only will it help in generation of extra power, but will also lead to maximum use of the water from the Ravi river, which is otherwise flowing into Pakistan.