Floods: WAPDA suffers Rs5.43b losses

Wapda and Pepco suffered losses of Rs5.43 billion and Rs3.32 billion.

ISLAMABAD:

The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) have suffered losses of Rs5.43 billion and Rs3.32 billion, respectively, during last year’s floods.

In a written reply in the National Assembly on Thursday, Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar said that Rs806.25 million had been spent on restoration of transmission lines in the flood-affected areas.

The minister said that numerous measures were being taken to minimise flood losses, adding these included Mangla Dam raising project and construction of Munda, Kurram Tangi and Diamer Bhasha dams, which would store around 11.79 million acre feet of water.

He informed that 32 medium-sized dams would also be constructed in different provinces in two phases. In the first phase, 12 dams will be built, with the remaining 20 dams being constructed in the second phase.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th,  2011.