Govt asked to win over India

The proposal was given by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination. PHOTO: APP

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel has advised the government to initiate diplomatic efforts to persuade India to give up its opposition to the 4,500-megawatt Diamer-Bhasha hydroelectric power project which is being built in Gilgit-Baltistan – a region New Delhi considers to be a disputed territory.

The proposal by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination was given at a meeting here on Friday after officials of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) said that the World Bank had refused to fund the project.

Presided over by committee’s chairman MNA Mir Ahmadan Khan Bugti, the meeting observed that the early completion of the $11.8 billion project was vital for Pakistan  to overcome energy shortages.

“The government should use all channels to resolve the issue once and for all,” the chairman said.

After the WB’s refusal, Pakistan has now turned to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a loan to fund the project.

The ADB said it was willing, but linked the credit supply with a consensus resolution from parliament in favor of the project to ensure that its status is not disputed. The government is yet to fulfill this condition, casting doubts on the project’s completion.

Pakistan is expecting $5 billion from the ADB, but the bank is likely to give credit in the range of $3-4 billion in the aid memoir.

Officials from Wapda and the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) briefed the committee about the construction of dams and the current situation of irrigation water distribution.

Wapda also said that construction work on small dams could not be initiated because of the prevailing law and order situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. However, construction on some dams in other provinces had begun, they added.

Irsa’s acting chairman Shafqat Masood later told the committee that the water apportionment agreement of 1991 among the provinces was a historical accord and it was being implemented.

Sindh’s objections regarding water shortage were uncalled for, he added.

Published in  The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2010.