The construction work on Mohmand and Diamer Bhasha Dams would commence from February and May 2019 respectively, Chairman WAPDA Lt Gen (Retd) Mzammil Hussain informed Senate Committee on Water Resources on Wednesday.
Briefing the Senate body, chaired by Senator Shamim Afridi, he said Balochistan government did not have the network to distribute 74,000 acre feet water of Kichhi Kanal. The province has the network to distribute only 10,000 acre feet water while 62,000 acre feet water could not be distributed, owing to absence of distribution system.
He said WAPDA has completed various overdue projects in the last two years including Tarbella-IV, Golan Gol, Neelmu-Jhelum despite severe issues of scarcity of funds being confronted by the authority. Massive liabilities of WAPDA could not be cleared in five years period despite not starting the new projects during the period.
WAPDA has asked Balochistan Government to assign WAPDA for construction of Naulong Dam.
He said during earlier year of the country, WAPDA had completed 12 projects in 12 years due to availability of funds in abundance.
Brushing aside the allegations of neglecting Balochistan, the Senate body was told that from out of a total of over Rs 70 billion, 81 Public Sector Development Programmes (PSDP) projects, 36 situated in Balochistan.
From out of 36 projects of Balochistan, 32 projects were approved in PSDP. Rs22 billion have so far been spent on constructing water reservoirs and Rs47.3 billion would be spent during the current year.
The official told Senate body that the cost of K-4 project of Karachi has jumped from Rs 14 billion to Rs 74 billion. The project would not be completed in next 20 years if not funds are not available, he added.
Senator Hasil Bazinjo said Prime Minister-Chief Justice Funds for construction of Mohamnd, Diamer–Bhasha should be diverted to complete 100 dams in Balochistan.
Senator Usman Kakar said over 12 million acre water was being wasted in Balochistan and Rs 500 billion were needed to build reservoirs in the province. The water reservoir projects should be included in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he added.
Senator Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldeni directed the Ministry of Water Resources to give feasibility of constructing only one dam in the province.
The meeting was told by officials that during the last financial year, Rs 35 million had been spent for constructing Khazana Dam. This year Rs 4 million has been allocated out of which 8 million have so far been released.
The committee was informed that Naulong Dam was over-delayed for a long time. Asian Development Bank (ADBP) had agreed to provide funds with the condition to construct distribution network first, however provincial government has not yet constructed the distribution system.
The process to prepare PC-I for construction of Bara dam was initiated in 2002, the chairman WAPDA said adding that 6 mw electricity will be produced from the dam PC-I of Rs 14.2080 billion was approved. Tenders were issued in December 2009 and April 2010, but no bid was received. The cost has increased manifold in PC-II of the project which has been deposited in Ministry of Water Resources.
The Chairman of the committee approved constituting a committee for changing the venue of Khazana dam. The committee recommended to complete one or two dams in Balochistan on priority basis.
