Former Bureaucrat urges Centre to fast-track Rs 2,352 crore Chenab-Beas link, seeks PM’s PRAGATI review
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, November 10, 2026: Former Punjab Special Chief Secretary KBS Sidhu has urged the Union Government to place the ₹2,352-crore Chenab-Beas Link Tunnel project under the Prime Minister’s PRAGATI review, citing delays in awarding the construction contract and concerns over geological and dam safety following the recent collapse at Pakistan’s Tarbela hydropower project.
In a demarche to Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil, Sidhu pointed out that six months after the tender was first issued, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) had yet to award the contract for the project, which is being described as India’s first initiative to divert water from a western river to the eastern river system.
The proposed project involves construction of a barrage on the Chandra river at Koksar in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti district and an 8.7-km tunnel through the Pir Panjal range. It is designed to carry water to the Beas river above Manali and onward through the Pandoh, Dehar and Bhakra systems.
Drawing attention to the November 9 collapse inside the Tunnel-5 works at Pakistan’s Tarbela Dam on the Indus, Sidhu said the incident underlined the need for independent geological and dam-safety assessments before major infrastructure projects are awarded.
He noted that the Tarbela incident was the second major failure at the Chinese-built project within months, following an earlier cofferdam collapse. The setback has reportedly pushed up the project's cost from Pakistani Rs 82 billion to around Rs 317 billion and delayed the expected addition of 1,530 MW of power capacity by at least two years.
“Pakistan’s projects fail through haste; ours stall through drift. We can afford neither,” Sidhu said.
According to Sidhu, NHPC issued the Chenab-Beas Link tender on May 20, 2026, but it was reportedly cancelled within three days and subsequently revived in June. The bidding process closed on July 24, but no contract award had been announced by November 10. He also pointed out that forest land-related processing at Koksar was still underway in August.
With a construction period of 49 months from the date of award, Sidhu argued that the project could struggle to meet the timeline publicly indicated by the Union government unless its implementation was closely monitored at the highest level.
He called for the project to be placed under the Prime Minister’s PRAGATI mechanism so that issues involving environmental and forest clearances, tribal consent, inter-ministerial coordination and Centre-State cooperation could be addressed within fixed timelines.
Sidhu also sought the inclusion of the Shahpurkandi powerhouses and the Ujh Multipurpose Project on the Ravi in a wider review of critical water and power infrastructure. He said an independent geological and dam-safety assessment should be undertaken before the Chenab-Beas project is awarded.
Referring to India's efforts to utilise its share of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab waters following the decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance after the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, Sidhu said the proposed link was among the first major projects announced under the policy.
He recalled that Union Jal Shakti Minister Paatil had publicly stated that India would fully utilise its share of western-river waters within one-and-a-half to two years.
Sidhu also cited former Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) chairman Devendra Kumar Sharma's estimate that India uses around 28 million acre-feet (MAF) of its 33 MAF share of eastern-river waters, while five to six MAF flows across the border annually.
In his communication, Sidhu further urged the Centre to expedite restoration of the Dehar Power House under the Beas-Sutlej Link. Its six units, each with a capacity of 165 MW, have reportedly remained shut since March 4, 2026, following silt-related damage.
He said the prolonged shutdown had resulted in substantial generation losses. Since the BBMB functions under the Union Ministry of Power, Sidhu also sent a copy of his letter to the Union Power Secretary, seeking intervention.
Sidhu, a former Principal Secretary, Irrigation, Punjab, and convener of the non-partisan Shiromani Punjab Forum, has previously sent the Union Government a draft central law proposing abrogation of the Indus Waters Treaty and the creation of a statutory Western Rivers Development Authority.
Under the proposed framework, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Punjab would have the right of first use of western-river waters, which could be channelled through the existing Ravi-Beas system.
He cited the nearly five-decade-old Ranjit Sagar Dam agreement of 1979 and the incomplete operationalisation of Shahpurkandi as examples of the delays that can affect inter-State water and power projects.