Diamer-Bhasha dam cost surges by $3.5b

Dams Safety Bill set for cabinet approval

ISLAMABAD:

A Senate panel was informed on Thursday that consultations with provinces on the Dams Safety Bill have been completed and the draft legislation will soon be presented before the federal cabinet.

The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources, which met under the chairmanship of Jam Saifullah Khan, was told by Water Resources Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza that the proposed bill has undergone provincial consultation and is now ready for submission to the cabinet.

During the meeting, detailed deliberations were held on the bill, encroachments in river waterways, flood management mechanisms and the evolving situation surrounding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

WAPDA officials informed the committee that work on the Diamer-Bhasha dam has reached 21 per cent completion, while progress on the Dasu dam stands at 30 per cent. However, more than $3.5 billion in additional funding will be required to complete the Diamer-Bhasha project.

The committee was further briefed that the responsibility for preventing obstructions in water channels lies with provincial irrigation departments.

Officials of the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) apprised the panel that Punjab has removed 2,625 encroachments from river waterways, though 83 obstructions still remain.

According to officials, SUPARCO has also confirmed the removal of encroachments. The committee was told that provinces bear primary responsibility for encroachments in river channels.

Chairperson Jam Saifullah Khan acknowledged that encroachments in waterways are a ground reality and questioned what effective solutions could be adopted to prevent them.

Additional Secretary Water Resources Syed Mehr Ali Shah stressed the need to assess whether provinces have undertaken zoning of riverine areas, identified high-risk and low-risk zones in case of floods, and mapped populations or strategic installations located within those areas.

He also inquired whether any regulatory framework related to flood management had been developed at the provincial level.

The secretary informed the committee that the National Flood Protection Plan (NFPP) has already been submitted to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for approval.

FFC officials proposed the installation of 707 telemetry stations across the country with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).