Taking a firm stand, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday announced in the Assembly that he would personally take up the Ranjit Sagar Dam issue with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, stressing that J&K’s rightful 20% power share and rehabilitation commitments cannot be ignored.
Omar, who was replying to a supplementary on a question tabled by MLA Darshan Kumar, made it clear that Jammu & Kashmir will actively pursue its pending claims related to the Ranjit Sagar Dam with Punjab, announcing that he will take up the matter directly with his counterpart Bhagwant Mann to ensure the 1979 agreement is implemented in letter and spirit, including the 20 percent power share, compensation and jobs for affected families. “The agreement between the two states is a sovereign commitment that must be honoured in letter and spirit”.
He informed the House that as per the 1979 agreement, J&K is entitled to 20 percent of the total power generated at Thein Dam and Shahpur Kandi Barrage at bus bar cost. He added that a power sale agreement between PSPCL and JKPCL was signed on 11 October 2019, for the sale and purchase of power from the Ranjit Sagar Dam project. However, no power is currently being injected into J&K’s system due to lack of transmission infrastructure. The provisional tariff payable to PSPCL stands at Rs. 3.5 per kWh.
On compensation to project-affected families, the Chief Minister said the total compensation amount stands at Rs.85.48 crore, out of which Rs.71.15 crore has been released by the Punjab Government, leaving a pending amount of Rs.14.32 crore. He added that Rs.5.41 crore in interest accrued on earlier released funds was utilized by the Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, for land compensation, bringing the adjusted pending amount to Rs.8.90 crore.
Further, he informed that Rs.1.10 crore is to be paid as per various court orders, while pending interest as of September 30, 2025, stands at Rs.27.02 crore, taking the total liability to Rs.37.03 crore. Against this, Rs.21.08 crore was received in 2020, leaving a balance of Rs.15.94 crore in the compensation account. So far, Rs.50.51 crore has been disbursed.
Explaining the delay in disbursement of full compensation, the Chief Minister said that non-submission of requisite documents by some landowners remains a major hurdle. These documents include compensation applications, bank account details, PAN cards and Aadhaar cards.
Regarding employment, the Chief Minister said the matter has been taken up with the concerned dam authorities through the Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, for providing jobs to 816 affected families.
He further informed that, as per Government Order No. 340-PW (Hyd) of 2018 dated September 28, 2018, employment to oustees is to be provided by the Government of Punjab in accordance with the agreed Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) Policy of both governments.