Mehbooba Mufti hits back at Omar Abdullah’s ‘irresponsible’ call to revive Tulbul project

What started as a war of words between Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti over the former’s call to revive the Tulbul Navigation Barrage project on Wullar Lake turned into a mudslinging match, with the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister accusing his predecessor of taking the conversation to gutter level.

The altercation broke out after Mufti said Abdullah’s call to revive the Tulbul Navigation Barrage project in view of the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was “irresponsible” and “dangerously provocative”.

The Chief Minister hit back at the PDP president, saying she refuses to acknowledge that IWT was a “historic betrayal” with the people of Jammu and Kashmir because of her “blind lust” to score “cheap” publicity points and “please” some people across the border.

Mufti on Friday termed the call to revive the project amid ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan as “deeply unfortunate".

“The Wular lake in North Kashmir. The civil works you see in the video is the Tulbul Navigation Barrage. It was started in the early 1980s but had to be abandoned under pressure from Pakistan citing the Indus Water Treaty,” Omar said on X, who also posted a video.

The treaty was put in abeyance based on a decision of the cabinet committee on security (CCS) on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. Mufti said on Friday that Omar Abdullah’s call to revive the Tulbul Navigation Project amid ongoing tensions between India & Pakistan is deeply unfortunate.

“At a time when both countries have just stepped back from the brink of a full-fledged war—with Jammu and Kashmir bearing the brunt through the loss of innocent lives, widespread destruction, and immense suffering—such statements are not only irresponsible but also dangerously provocative,” she said. She said, “our people deserve peace as much as anyone else in the country. Weaponising something as essential and life-giving as water is not only inhumane but also risks internationalising what should remain a bilateral matter.” Omar had said that now the Indus Waters Treaty has been “temporarily suspended,” and wondered “if we will be able to resume the project.” “It will give us the advantage of allowing us to use the Jhelum for navigation,” he said. Omar said, “it will also improve the power generation of downstream power projects, especially in winter.”

The Tulbul Navigation project was conceived before militancy started in Kashmir, and work on it was started in the 1980s. Pakistan had objected to it saying it is in contravention to IWT. The Indian side, however, pointed out that the structure is not a storage facility but a navigation facility. After the militancy erupted in Kashmir, in the 1990s, the work on the project was halted.

The project was kept on hold, in late 2000, the Jammu and Kashmir Government started working on the Wular conservation project on the pattern of the Tulbul Navigation project. In 2012, militants targeted the conservation project, forcing another halt. In the past, several meetings have been held between India and Pakistan over the issue. However, they were inconclusive.