Tapping Thar deposits: Incompetency, corruption major impediments

Experts say coal could be a game-changer if utilised efficiently.

ISLAMABAD: This was the gist of a seminar titled “Coal: From Thar to Gadani”, held at the Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad on Wednesday.

It was chaired by Usman Aminuddin, former federal minister of petroleum and natural resources while Mirza Talib Hassan, former director general of the Geological Survey of Pakistan was the key speaker.

Hassan was of the view that the potential and efficiency of Thar coal had been debated for over three decades and yet no concrete measures were taken to exploit the resource.

It had already been very late and any further “over-study” would only hurt the cause, he said and asked the government to start drilling and exploration work immediately based on available studies, while also carrying out the evaluation.

Experts pointed out that there were a number of assessments and projections about Thar coal reserves and their consumption ranging from highly optimistic to below pessimistic, making it difficult to paint a realistic picture.

They said unfortunately Thar coal development had not been undertaken under an integrated master plan to cover the coal basin spread over an area of around 9,000 square kilometres.

They underlined the need for adopting an approach that covered all aspects of geology such as coal exploration, mining options, infrastructure development, availability and condition of surface and groundwater and the requirement of electricity.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2014.

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