Wapda asks for immediate release of funds for Neelum Jhelum Dam

Says the project will be delayed yet again if govt does not provide $1 billion.

ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has warned that the strategically-important 969 megawatt (MW) Neelum Jhelum hydropower project may face further delays if the government does not release $1 billion immediately. Due to prior delays, the cost of the Neelum Jhelum project has already jumped to Rs274.8 billion, from initial estimates of Rs 84.5 billion.

India is constructing the Kishanganga Dam upstream of the Neelum River, and Pakistan had reciprocally initiated the project in order to secure its rights over the river’s waters. Officials, however, seem complacent as they claim that India cannot claim rights over the river, even if it completes the dam, as the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty prohibit it from doing so. An international court of arbitration has granted a stay order preventing the permanent construction of the Kishanganga Dam.

Wapda, however, is worried nonetheless. “If the required amount is not provided, it will be impossible to complete the Neelum Jhelum hydropower project on schedule in 2016,” Wapda Chairman Syed Raghib Hussain Shah told a parliamentary panel here on Friday.

The Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power was also reviewing progress on other projects.

In his briefing, Shah also told lawmakers that 45% of every unit of power generated was lost in transmission and distribution.

While on the topic of the Kurram Tangi Dam, he said Transparency International – the global watchdog monitoring corrupt practices – had raised a red flag on the project, thereby causing it to be delayed. “Transparency International should avoid interfering in hydropower projects to avoid such delays,” Shah told the panel.



He informed the committee that the contract for the Kurram Tangi Dam will be awarded in December this year. He said that law enforcement agencies had provided ample security assistance for those working on the dam, and that work was proceeding smoothly. The project costs Rs59 billion, and negotiations with the World Bank are underway, in order to secure financing for the project.

The Wapda chairman also told the committee that the World Bank will also extend assistance for the Dasu power project, and that multilateral negotiations with other donors for the Kurram Tangi, Dasu and Bhasha dam were currently underway. He also informed the panel that the Tarbela-IV extension project will be completed by March 2013.

However, at least one lawmaker was not satisfied with the Wapda chairman’s reassurances. Senator Nisar alleged that these projects existed only on paper, and there was nothing going on the practical front. He admonished the Wapda chairman, saying that officials had been parroting the same things for the last few years, and that any indication of progress has so far remained elusive.

Later, the Peshawar Electric Power Company CEO informed the committee that line losses and power theft through ‘kunda systems’ had become a major issue for the company. He said that the police refused to assist the company in this regard; therefore, meaningful measures could not be taken and the company faced billion of rupees in losses.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2012.