Omar joins power project row, says BJP MLAs interfering

SRINAGAR: J&K CM Omar Abdullah Monday said political parties shouldn’t interfere in power projects under execution in the Kishtwar region and that law enforcement agencies should take action against those obstructing the work.

The statement came days after construction firm Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd. (MEIL), building an upcoming 850-megawatt Ratle hydropower project on the Chenab River, threatened pull out over alleged interference by a local BJP legislator.

“There should be absolutely no interference in the work,” Omar, who is also power minister, told reporters here. “If such allegations had been made against any of my ministers, the ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau) would have acted by now and conducted raids.”

“These projects are not only for J&Km but for the entire country,” the CM said.

Without naming legislators, he said that although the company has named one MLA, two local lawmakers of the BJP are interfering in all power projects in the Kishtwar district.

On Saturday, MEIL joint chief operating officer Harpal Singh accused BJP local MLA Shagun Parihar of persistent interference, alleging she and others were attempting to disrupt the project. Singh said the company was facing pressure from her to provide jobs and warned MEIL might pull out.

Singh said MEIL employs more than 1,468 workers at the project, including 977 from Kishtwar. “We don’t have any vacancies. We cannot appoint people under political pressure,” he said.

Singh has also filed two complaints with the deputy commissioner Kishtwar. The first was filed last week about an alleged attack on a senior company official on Dec 4.

On Monday, he filed another complaint accusing local social media influencer Asif Iqbal Naik of circulating “false, defamatory and threatening content” on social media against MEIL official Syed Burhan Andrabi and sought the registration of a police case against him.

In his video, Naik had alleged that there are terrorists operating in Kishtwar and they might have links with Kashmiri employees working on Ratle project.

The then PM Manmohan Singh has laid the foundation of Ratle project in 2013 but progress has been tardy amid recurrent labour logjams.

The Rs 3,700-crore project on the Chenab river is a joint venture between the Centre-owned NHPC Ltd and J&K State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC). The project includes a 133-meter dam and an underground powerhouse with five turbines.

After its foundation in 2013, the project's contract was awarded to GVK Group on a 35-year build-own-operate-transfer basis. The company withdrew within two years without citing any reasons.

Along with the Ratle project, NHPC Ltd. is also executing three other major hydropower projects in Kishtwar with a combined installed capacity of 3,014 megawatts through joint venture companies with JKSPDC.