Standing Committee on Water and Power: Senate body reviews progress on 83.4 MW Kurram

[Salman]

Standing Committee on Water and Power: Senate body reviews progress on 83.4 MW Kurram Tangi project

* Committee directs finance and power managers to arrange adequate funds

* WAPDA seeks Rs 700m against PSDP 2011-12

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary panel of Senate on Thursday directed the federal bureaucrats dealing with financial matters to arrange maximum funding for 83.4 megawatts (MW) Kurram Tangi Hydropower project according to Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA) need assessment by January-end.

Taking its last breathings because of minimal financial medication of Rs 100 million in development budget 2011-12, which has already been stuck by federal financial managers, Kurram Tangi has been seeking financial seeking of minimum Rs 700 million only for initiating the land acquisition process.

The meeting of Senate standing committee of water and power was held here at parliament house in convenership of Senator Zahid Khan to review the current status of development work of Kurram Tangi hydropower project.

WAPDA, who has been claiming that after commissioning of this million-dollar mega hydropower project sited in tribal belt of North Waziristan, more than 365,000 acres agricultural land of surroundings area including Bannu and its adjacent districts could be irrigated, while the area of 65,000 acres land of North Waziristan could also be irrigated.

Sources associate to Shakeel Durani, chairman WAPDA informed this scribe that more than 14,430 acres land area is being acquired for the said project and according to revised PC-1 cost, Rs 1.1 billion is need only for acquisition of land.

Senate panel was informed shockingly by WAPDA officials that planning commission and finance division allocated a mere amount of Rs 100 million in development budget, Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2011-12, which yet to be released for the said project, while the financial medication of Rs 700 million is projected by WAPDA only for initiating the land acquisition process.

However, it was also learnt that while projecting the said project, WAPDA authority has yet to initialise any feasibility and environmental study for the project, no consultancy has been hired yet, while WAPDA officials linked the all initial formalities and paperwork with provision of sufficient funds.

Interestingly, planning wing of WAPDA had claimed the PC-1 cost of the said project up to 17.205 billion, and after detailed review by another major stake of federation, Planning Commission endorsed the document and it was approved by Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2005.

However, because of long delaying in the project, the actual cost of Kurram Tangi shoot up to Rs 59.561 billion showing 246.18 percent enormous increase, while authority linked this huge numeric game with certain factors including worst law and order situation surrounding areas of the project site, some technical amendments in dam infrastructure design, enhancement in storage capacity and some others.

According to sources in Planning Commission, expenditures of WAPDA in the name of Kurram Tangi hydropower project was recorded Rs 3.624 billion against accumulated allocation of Rs 6.14 billion in development budget, Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) since last six Fiscal Years (FY) 2006-07 to ongoing FY 2011-12.

Further details of development budget revealed that WAPDA used up Rs 50 million till end of June 2006, federal government allocated Rs 2.7 billion in PSDP 2006-07 for said project and expenditure of authority for Kurram Tangi hydropower was recorded the full amount of allocation for FY 2006-07, Rs 2.847 billion had been allocated for 83.4MW hydropower project in PSDP 2007-08, while WAPDA put forward the expenditure details of Rs 874 million till end of June 2008.

Interestingly, the finance managers of present democratic regime dropped the project from PSDP 2009-10, however authority squandered of Rs 56.300 million.

Federal government once again made allocation for WAPDA under head of planned hydropower project in North Waziristan Rs 576.176 million in PSDP 2010-11 and Rs 100 million for FY 2011-12, however no single penny was released for the said project.

Senate standing committee for water and power constituted a committee under supervision of secretary water and power Imtiaz Qazi accompanying with Planning Commission and Finance Division officials to sort out the matter by end-January. Committee also strictly directed the financial and power managers to arrange the sufficient funds to WAPDA for the said 83.4MW hydropower project and summoned them on January 31.