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Right to water and information

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November 02, 2017

What is the issue?

  • Over repeated instances, Chief information commission (CIC) has denied information on J&K hydel projects negotiations.
  • It must be noted that citizen has right to claim both water and information.

What is government’s deal on J&K hydel power projects?

  • Union Government is extracting electricity from the rivers of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under National Hydel Power Corporation NHPC.
  • In 2000 the J&K government signed MoUs with the Central government transferring seven hydro power projects to NHPC for funding, execution and operation.
  • The MoUs covered Kishanganga, Uri-II, Bursar, Sewa-II, Pakal Dul, Nimmo Bazgo and Chutak projects for a period of ten years.
  • Currently, NHPC generates close to 30% of its national total annual output (2,009 MW of 6,717 MW) from the hydel projects located at Salal, Uri, Dulhasti, Sewa, Nimmo Bazgo and Chutak in J&K, earning it about Rs 200 billion annually.
  • A couple more are under construction and a handful are said to be at an exploratory stage.
  • Under the terms of the MoUs, 12% of the electricity generated is supplied free of cost to J&K.

What are the concerns with CIC’s move?

  • Union government is not ready to share any information on handing back those hydel projects to the State.
  • The Chief Information Commission ruled that that it would not disclose details of the negotiations.
  • The CIC's interpretation of RTI Act was invoked to prevent disclosure on NHPC.
  • By RTI law the protection for commercially confidential information is available only to "third parties", not to a public authority that holds the requested information.
  • While deciding the appeal against the NHPC, the CIC treated it as a "third party”.
  • In a ruling the Delhi High Court had clearly ruled that a public authority cannot become both "second party" and the "third party" in relation to one RTI application.
  • In both cases a similar misinterpretation of RTI law given by the CIC was under challenge.
  • The CIC also denied information in the lines with investor interests, but the fact is government is 90% shareholder of the NHPC.

Why water and information both are important?

  • India ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1979, which recognises every human being's right to water.
  • In 2002, the Covenant's monitoring body declared that the right to water includes people's right to access information about water.
  • Both water and information controlled by governments and their agencies are public goods.
  • Thus, both must be readily accessible to the people on demand and nobody should be allowed to claim proprietorial rights over either of them.
  • Publicising details of government’s negotiations is the first step towards returning to the people of Jammu & Kashmir control over their natural resources.

 

Source: Indian Express

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