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A 900 MW run-of-the-river project on the Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir, and the first Indus Waters Treaty dispute sent to a Neutral Expert.
The Baglihar Dam, formally the Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project, is a 900 MW run-of-the-river hydroelectric project on the Chenab river in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a concrete gravity dam roughly 143 metres high and about 317 metres long, built and owned by the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. The project was conceived in 1992, approved in 1996 and taken up for construction in 1999, and was built in two stages of 450 MW each - Stage I commissioned in 2008-09 and Stage II in 2015-16, each with three 150 MW Francis turbines. Its importance far exceeds its size, because the Chenab is a western river allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, and Baglihar became the first dispute in the treaty's history to be referred to a World Bank-appointed Neutral Expert.
Type: PhenomenonLocated on the Chenab river in Ramban district, Jammu and Kashmir - not on the Jhelum or the Indus, the two other western rivers.
Installed capacity 900 MW in two stages of 450 MW each; Stage I commissioned 2008-09, Stage II 2015-16.
A concrete gravity dam of about 143 metres height and 317 metres length, developed by the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC).
Designed as a run-of-the-river project - it generates from the natural flow rather than storing a season's water, which is the category the Indus Waters Treaty permits India on the western rivers.
Pondage was capped at about 32.56 million cubic metres following the Neutral Expert's 2007 determination, below the design India had originally proposed.
The gated spillway with low-level outlets, needed to flush silt from a Himalayan reservoir, was the exact design feature Pakistan objected to and the Neutral Expert upheld.
Sits in a chain of Chenab-basin projects that includes Salal (the oldest), Dulhasti, Pakal Dul, Ratle and Kiru - the cluster that shapes India-Pakistan water friction.
Frequency: A standing favourite in dam-and-river matching questions across SSC, Railway and State PSC papers, and a live UPSC current-affairs topic every time the Indus Waters Treaty returns to the news.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed at Karachi on 19 September 1960 by Jawaharlal Nehru and Ayub Khan, with the World Bank as a signatory to its financial provisions. It gave India the three eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej - and Pakistan the three western rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - while allowing India specified non-consumptive uses on the western rivers, including run-of-the-river hydropower within stated design limits. Baglihar was the first major test of those limits.
Indus Waters Treaty signed at Karachi, brokered by the World Bank
Baglihar project conceived
Project approved
Construction begins on the Chenab at Ramban
Pakistan takes its design objections to the World Bank, seeking a Neutral Expert
Neutral Expert Professor Raymond Lafitte delivers his determination, largely upholding the design while ordering modifications
Stage I (450 MW) commissioned
Stage II (450 MW) commissioned, taking the project to 900 MW
Pahalgam terror attack; India announces the Indus Waters Treaty is held in abeyance
India again opens the Baglihar gates for periodic silt-flushing without prior intimation to Pakistan
The Indus Waters Treaty does not simply say who owns which river. It settles disagreements through a three-tier ladder, and Baglihar is the case that shows how the middle rung works.
Step 1 - Question: routine issues are handled by the Permanent Indus Commission, which has one commissioner from each country and is meant to meet regularly and exchange data.
Step 2 - Difference: if the Commission cannot settle a technical or design matter, either side may ask the World Bank to appoint a Neutral Expert. This is the rung Pakistan used for Baglihar in 2005.
Step 3 - Dispute: matters beyond the Neutral Expert's competence, or of a legal character, go to an ad hoc arbitral tribunal called the Court of Arbitration - the route taken over Kishanganga and Ratle.
Step 4 - Determination: in February 2007 the Neutral Expert upheld India's right to build a gated spillway with low-level outlets for silt management, while directing that pondage and freeboard be reduced and the power intake raised, bringing the design within treaty limits.
Chenab (a western river under the Indus Waters Treaty)
Ramban district, Jammu and Kashmir
900 MW (2 stages of 450 MW)
6 x 150 MW Francis turbines
Concrete gravity, about 143 m high and 317 m long
Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation
2008-09
2015-16
About 32.56 million cubic metres, per the 2007 Neutral Expert determination
Professor Raymond Lafitte (Switzerland), verdict 12 February 2007
Baglihar is the reference point for what India may and may not do on the western rivers. The 2007 determination established that gated spillways and low-level silt outlets are legitimate engineering on a Himalayan river, which cleared the design path for later Chenab-basin projects such as Ratle, Pakal Dul and Kiru. It also showed the treaty's machinery working: a serious design dispute between two adversarial states was settled by a technical expert rather than by force. That machinery is now under strain. After the Pahalgam attack of 22 April 2025, in which 26 civilians were killed, India announced that the treaty would be held in abeyance, and has since carried out reservoir flushing and gate operations at Baglihar without the prior intimation to Pakistan that treaty practice involved - a pattern repeated in August 2026. India has separately rejected the competence of the Permanent Court of Arbitration proceedings over its Chenab-basin projects. For an aspirant, Baglihar is where hydropower engineering, the treaty's legal text and India-Pakistan strategy meet in one place.
Baglihar Dam - on the Chenab, Ramban district, Jammu and Kashmir.
900 MW run-of-the-river project: Stage I 450 MW (2008-09), Stage II 450 MW (2015-16).
Concrete gravity dam, about 143 m high; built by JKSPDC.
First Indus Waters Treaty difference referred to a Neutral Expert.
Neutral Expert: Professor Raymond Lafitte, Switzerland; verdict 12 February 2007.
Verdict upheld the gated spillway; ordered reduced pondage (about 32.56 MCM) and freeboard.
Indus Waters Treaty signed 19 September 1960 at Karachi; World Bank brokered.
Eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India; western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan.
Dispute ladder: Permanent Indus Commission - Neutral Expert - Court of Arbitration.
Treaty held in abeyance by India from April 2025, after the Pahalgam attack.
The Baglihar Dam is built on the Chenab river, in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.
It has an installed capacity of 900 MW, built in two stages of 450 MW each, commissioned in 2008-09 and 2015-16.
Pakistan objected to the dam's design - particularly its gated spillway with low-level outlets and its pondage - arguing these would let India control the timing of Chenab flows in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty.
Professor Raymond Lafitte, a Swiss civil engineer appointed by the World Bank as Neutral Expert, gave his determination on 12 February 2007. He upheld India's right to a gated spillway while ordering reductions in pondage and freeboard.
Yes. The Chenab is a western river allocated to Pakistan, but the treaty permits India non-consumptive uses including run-of-the-river hydropower within specified design and storage limits. India has held the treaty in abeyance since April 2025.