Kohala hydroelectric power project

Subject: Geography

Context:

China under the multi-billion-dollar CPEC will set up a 1,124-megawatt power project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) despite India’s objection to it

Concept:

• Tripartite agreement has been finalised among China’s Three Gorges Corporation, the authorities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir  and the PPIB to implement the 1,124-megawatt Kohala hydroelectric power project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework.
• The project will be built on the Jhelum River and aims at annually providing more than five billion units of clean and low-cost electricity for consumers in Pakistan.
• The 3,000-km-long CEPC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical cable fiber networks. It connects China’s Xinjiang province with Pakistan Gwadar port, providing access to China to the Arabian Sea.
• The CPEC passes through PoK, over which India has conveyed its protests to China.
• Last month, India protested to Pakistan awarding a mega contract to build a construction of the Diamer-Bhashadam inGilgit-Baltistan, saying carrying out of such projects in territories under Pakistan’s illegal occupation was not proper.