The Dasu dilemma

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Cost-effective power generation has for long been a national desire. But Pakistan, despite having enough hydro resources, has struggled to stay afloat, and per unit cost of electricity for consumers has been exorbitant. Currently, Pakistan has one of the highest energy tariffs in the region, and there is a mixed baggage of wayward decision-making that is to be blamed for it.

The rise in the construction cost of Dasu project is a case in point, which has soared to Rs1.7 trillion from Rs479 billion, inflating the price tag of electricity to an estimated Rs9 per unit. It is surely owing to mismanagement, delays and a non-professional approach towards a project of national interest, and is in need of being fixed before it turns out to be another white elephant.

The increase of almost 240% in cost cannot be ignored by simply re-approving the project to go ahead. Black sheep and administrative lacunas behind this faux pas must be identified, and ways adopted to ensure that it is productive as and when it is commissioned for power generation.

Moreover, the fact that Pakistan's energy mosaic requires more water-storage and power generation dams also needs to be flagged, and a national policy devised out of it. This is indispensable to not only to undo the ripples of IPPs-driven escalated price tags in future, but also to turn self-reliant in energy production. The least that is needed is to depoliticise the prism, and plough out inefficient modules of decision-making that are still in vogue.

While the Dasu cost-debacle has been referred to ECNEC for scrutiny, many critical riddles warrant answers: Why were power-generation bodies slumbering when the delay was underway, and why did Wapda not appoint an independent project director and a professional chief finance officer to monitor the project?

It is also nerve-wrenching to learn that Wapda had awarded a contract for the construction of a 66km Karakoram Highway section in foreign currency. Such derelictions have pushed the country towards seeking an additional $6 billion funding in these testing times. Will some heads roll is hard to guess!