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.
