KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
J&K’s Law Minister Abdul Haq Khan on Tuesday convened a meeting of officers to discuss the legal course of action with regard to construction of 850 MW Rattle Hydro Electric Power Project on river Chenab in Drabshala area of Kishtwar district.
The meeting was attended by Advocate General, Commissioner Secretary Power Development Department, Managing Director JKSPDC and Secretary Law.
The meeting deliberated upon the reasons of delay in the project and the future course of action to be taken with regard to the construction of the project and fixing responsibility regarding the delay.
The Minister was informed that the contract for construction of 850 MW Rattle HEP was awarded to M/S GVK Limited on BOOT basis under Independent Power Producers (IPP) mode in June 2010, but the construction work on the project got abandoned owing to certain issues with the contractor.
The meeting was informed that after the developer has expressed inability to resume the work, the matter is being examined by a committee headed by Financial Commissioner, Planning Development & Monitoring Department and the case is also pending in court. The meeting discussed the legal procedure to be followed by the government so that work on the project is started at earliest.
The Minister asked the officials to expedite the work to find alternatives so that work on the Rattle HEP will be started soon. He also asked the Advocate General to use all legal options to remove the bottle necks in the project.
Interestingly, the project is being disputed by Pakistan that has already gone to the World Bank. In fact, the bank has appointed a Neutral Expert.
