Islamabad – A Senate panel on Thursday lamented the Ministry of Water Resources for the delay in settling audit paras for decades and questioned whether the Ministry has been waiting for the deaths of responsible officials to address these issues.
The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Shahadat Awan, was briefed on the work carried out by WAPDA. It was apprised that WAPDA’s scope of work extends to the construction, maintenance, and operation of powerhouses and grids. In addition, WAPDA also makes strides to prevent waterlogging and flood control. Since 1958, WAPDA has completed 15 dams, 23 hydropower plants, 14 thermal power plants, 7 barrages, and 47,618 grid stations. Approximately, WAPDA contributes 31% to the country’s power capacity. The major engineering icons credited to WAPDA include Tarbela Dam, Mangla Dam, and Chashma Barrage, which together have a generation capacity of around 6,142 MW.
Moreover, the major ongoing projects are the Diamer Basha Dam (4,500 MW), Dasu Dam (4,320 MW), Tarbela 5th Extension (1,530 MW), and Floating Solar Ghazi & Barotha (300 MW). However, river diversion has been completed for the Diamer Basha Dam, Mohmand Dam, and Dasu Hydropower. WAPDA’s ongoing projects are expected to generate 11,694 MW of power, irrigate 4 million acres, and create more than 35,000 jobs. Additionally, the committee was informed about upcoming projects for which the feasibility study has been completed.
While discussing the audit paras of WAPDA pending with the Public Accounts Committee, Chairman Senator Shahadat Awan recommended that the details of the audit paras should be provided within 10 days. He expressed discontent with the Ministry regarding the prolonged delay in settling the audit paras and questioned whether the Ministry has been waiting for the deaths of responsible officials to address these issues. Furthermore, the Chairman required the Ministry to provide details of all directions and compliance made concerning the audit paras, along with the status of inquiries conducted against the officials responsible for causing losses to the government exchequer.
In attendance were Senators Saadia Abbasi, Poonjo Bheel, Khalil Tahir, Quratulain Marri, Saeed Ahmed Hashmi, Secretary for the Ministry of Water Resources Syed Ali Murtaza, Chairman WAPDA Lt. Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd), and other senior officials from concerned departments.
