Bhakra Dam high on terrorist hit-list, warns IB

The Bhakra Dam, located on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, could be the next target of Pakistan-based terrorists, according to an Intelligence Bureau alert to India's various security agencies, including the Himachal and Punjab police.

The IB report says that terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa are specifically training their cadres in cliff-climbing, swimming across water channels and handling explosives with the intention to attack the Bhakra Nangal dam project.

The IB warning, which seems to have been widely 'leaked' to the media, notes the threats made by LeT and JuD leaders over river waters at rallies in Pakistan.

"A number of intelligence inputs indicate that the Bhakra Dam is one of the most preferred targets of Pak-based terrorist organisations. Reportedly, the LeT has also been training its cadres attack major dams in India, particularly those located in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh," the report says, according to IANS which says it has seen a copy.

Although commonly called the Bhakra-Nagal dam, these are actually two separate dams on the Sutlej River, with Nangal being downstream of Bhakra.

The first hydro-electric project in India, Bhakra remains the second-highest after the Narmada Dam. Its reservoir, known as 'Gobind Sagar' (a major tourist attraction), holds enough water to drown the whole of Chandigarh, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.