The man first blamed for ignoring the fact that India was building a huge dam will still have to face the music.
The ministry of water and power has decided to re-open the inquiry against former Indus water commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah over the 45MW Nimoo Bazgo hydropower project built by India on the Indus River.
The inquiry, conducted by Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Secretary Muhammad Imtiaz Tajwar, says Shah lost the opportunity to take the issue to the court of arbitration and neutral experts.
“The issue is very serious and I want to reopen the inquiry that would be conducted by a panel of experts,” water and power ministry secretary for the Imtiaz Qazi told The Express Tribune.
The Nimoo Bazgo run-of-the-river hydroelectric project is located near the village Alchi in the district Leh, in Indian administered Kashmir, about 450 km from Srinagar and 750 km from Jammu.
Pakistan has already decided to take up the issue of Nimoo Bazgo with the court of arbitration. The water and power ministry has presented a summary to the prime minister, seeking approval to table the case before the court.
Pakistan first received information on the project in 2002 and asked India for details. Despite numerous reminders by the commissioner, India failed to respond until December 2006.
During a recent inspection, the Pakistani team learnt that 80% of the work on the dam had been completed; the expected date for its inauguration is August 2012.
Shah himself earlier dismissed allegations that officials at the Pakistan Indus Water Commission had not taken action quick enough to safeguard Pakistan’s interests.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2011.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Another bureaucrat asleep at the wheel. What exactly do they do in their offices ? Just have chai and samosa in offices every day and torture ordinary citizens trying to get approvals for their permits etc.
Such negligence should be rewarded with a long term jail sentence. If a doctor was that bad at his job, he would have his license revoked.