Salal Power Project is situated on which one among the following rivers?

Correct — A, Chenab. Salal is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric project on the Chenab at Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir, built and run by NHPC, with 690 MW installed across two stages of 345 MW each — Stage I commissioned in 1987 and Stage II between 1993 and 1995. It was the first big hydro project India built on the Chenab, and it sits in a chain with Baglihar and Dulhasti further upstream on the same river, which is why the three names so often appear together in questions. The Chenab is the largest tributary of the Indus, formed where the Chandra and the Bhaga meet at Tandi near Keylong in Himachal Pradesh — hence its other name, Chandrabhaga — before it enters Jammu and Kashmir. Under the Indus Waters Treaty the Chenab is one of the western rivers allotted to Pakistan, on which India retains a right to non-consumptive use including run-of-the-river power, which is exactly the design Salal follows.

• (b)Jhelum — The Jhelum rises from a spring at Verinag at the foot of the Pir Panjal, flows through Srinagar and the Wular lake and carries the Uri project, not Salal. It joins the Chenab near Jhang in Pakistan.
• (c)Nubra — A high Ladakh stream fed by the Siachen glacier, flowing into the Shyok. It is a headwater tributary in the Indus's mountain course, far from Reasi, and carries no major hydro project.
• (d)Shyok — Another Himalayan tributary of the Indus in Ladakh, running between the Karakoram and the Ladakh Range. Like the Nubra it belongs to the upper Indus in Ladakh, not to the Chenab valley in the Jammu region.

The Chenab valley in Jammu and Kashmir is the most heavily developed hydropower corridor in the Indus basin on the Indian side, chiefly because the river carries a large flow through a steep, narrow gorge. Salal, Baglihar, Dulhasti, Kishanganga's neighbours on the Jhelum aside, and the newer Ratle and Pakal Dul projects all sit on or beside it. All are designed as run-of-the-river schemes, storing little water, because the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 gives Pakistan the waters of the three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — while permitting India non-consumptive uses such as power generation.

Project-to-river questions reward grouping rather than isolated recall. Fix a small cluster for each river: Chenab carries Salal, Baglihar and Dulhasti; Jhelum carries Uri and, on its tributary, Kishanganga; Sutlej carries Bhakra and Nathpa Jhakri; Beas carries Pong and Pandoh. Then use physiography to reject the impossible: the Nubra and the Shyok are Ladakh streams in the high Trans-Himalaya, where the terrain, the low winter flow and the absence of demand rule out a project of this size, whereas Reasi lies in the outer hills of the Jammu region where the Chenab breaks out of the mountains.

• Salal is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric project on the Chenab in Reasi district, Jammu and Kashmir, operated by NHPC.
• Its installed capacity is 690 MW — 345 MW in Stage I, commissioned in 1987, and 345 MW in Stage II, commissioned between 1993 and 1995.
• The Chenab is the largest tributary of the Indus and is formed by the union of the Chandra and the Bhaga at Tandi near Keylong in Himachal Pradesh.
• Baglihar and Dulhasti are the other major projects on the Chenab; the Jhelum rises at Verinag and flows through Srinagar and the Wular lake.
• Under the Indus Waters Treaty the Chenab is a western river allotted to Pakistan, with India permitted non-consumptive uses such as run-of-the-river power.

• Assigning any Jammu and Kashmir project to the Jhelum because Srinagar is the best-known city on it.
• Confusing the Chenab with the Chandrabhaga as if they were different rivers; the Chandra and Bhaga unite to form the Chenab.
• Placing Nubra or Shyok projects in the Jammu region; both are Ladakh rivers in the upper Indus course.

As a project-to-river question, as a match list pairing dams with rivers or states, or inside a statement item on the Indus Waters Treaty.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Chenab river is formed by the confluence of which two streams?

  • (a)Chandra and Bhaga
  • (b)Nubra and Shyok
  • (c)Alaknanda and Bhagirathi
  • (d)Beas and Sutlej

  Answer(a) Chandra and Bhaga — they join at Tandi near Keylong in Himachal Pradesh, which is why the river is also called the Chandrabhaga.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the Chenab is classified as which one of the following?

  • (a)An eastern river allotted to India
  • (b)A western river allotted to Pakistan
  • (c)A river outside the scope of the treaty
  • (d)A river reserved for joint storage projects

  Answer(b) A western river allotted to Pakistan — along with the Indus and the Jhelum, with India permitted non-consumptive uses such as run-of-the-river power.