Residents vent anger at Thar coal project hearing

Residents, activists claim first water supply scheme involved corruption, delays

HYDERABAD: A public hearing for a new project for the piped supply of water to the Thar coalfield area drew the ire of area residents, who pointed out that the first such project was marred by alleged corruption and inordinate delays.

The hearing was conducted by Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) at the Darbar Hall of the Tharparkar deputy commissioner's office on Tuesday.

SEPA deputy director Imran Sabir and Mahwish Rehman, from Enertech Water Limited, gave a detailed briefing about the project, explaining that the project would draw water from the Chotiari reservoir in Sanghar district through the Makih-Farish link canal.

The water will be taken to two reservoirs at Nabisar and then, via a pipeline, to another reservoir in Vajihar village. Over 40 million cubic metres of water per year is expected to be drawn, amounting to about five per cent of Chotiari's capacity. According to an estimate, the Thar coal mining and power production projects in Block II in Islamkot taluka require around 28 billion litres of water per annum.

Civil society representatives claimed that the residents of the villages that would be affected by the project were not in attendance at the hearing. "The hearing will be fruitless if the voices of the real stakeholders aren't heard," argued Saajan Charo, a member of civil society.

Ali Akbar Rahimo said a similar project, initiated in 2014 at the cost of Rs7 billion, had still not been completed while the cost had multiplied almost four times to Rs25 billion. "Billions of rupees of public funds have been embezzled from the scheme, which is also under inquiry," he said, adding that the project was scheduled to be completed in 2016.

Advocate Leela Ram said the people affected by the scheme and those whose lands had come under it had not yet been compensated.

Members of civil society demanded that a renewed public hearing be held on the matter after ensuring the participation of the stakeholders. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2020.