‘Weaponizing water inhumane’: Mehbooba Mufti on J&K CM Omar Abdullah’s ‘resume Tulbul project’ suggestion | India News
NEW DELHI: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday called CM Omar Abdullah‘s stance on reinstating the Tulbul Navigation Project ‘deeply irresponsible.’Omar Abdullah shared his thoughts on Thursday regarding the possible resumption of construction at the Tulbul Navigation Barrage on Wullar Lake, considering the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. “The Wular lake in North Kashmir. The civil works you see in the video is the Tulbul Navigation Barrage. It was started in the early 1980s but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing the Indus Water Treaty. Now that the IWT has been ‘temporarily suspended’ I wonder if we will be able to resume the project,” Abdullah posted on his personal X handle.He indicated that completing the Tulbul project would facilitate Jhelum’s use for navigation. “It will give us the advantage of allowing us to use the Jhelum for navigation. It will also improve the power generation of downstream power projects, especially in winter,” he elaborated.Taking to X, Mufti shared Abdullah’s post and reacted, “At a time when both nations have just stepped back from the brink of war—with Jammu and Kashmir once again paying the highest price through loss of innocent lives, destruction, and suffering—such provocative statements are deeply irresponsible.”She stressed that J&K residents need tranquillity and constancy, rather than political actions that could heighten tensions. “Weaponizing water—a source of life—is not only inhumane, but it also threatens to internationalize an issue that must remain strictly bilateral,” she noted.Following the Pahalgam terror incident last month, the Centre suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, which previously governed water-sharing between India and Pakistan.
