Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will inaugurate Wednesday Chashma Nuclear Power Project Unit-3 (C-3), which will add 340MW electricity to the national grid. Secretary Atomic Energy Commission Attique Chaudhry informed this to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Reforms, which met with Abdul Majeed Khan Khanan Khail in the chair at the Parliament House on Tuesday.
He said that Chashma Nuclear Power Project Unit-3 (C-3) has been completed and now it will function to generate 340 megawatts electricity after the inauguration by the Prime Minister. He further said that Chashma Nuclear Power Project Unit-4 (C-4) would be completed and inaugurated during July 2017. However, he said, "We are not receiving funds according to the requirement. If funds were available on time, we could complete this project before the stipulated timeframe."
Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Lieutenant General (Retd) Muzammil Hussain informed the committee members that Prime Minister Sharif would inaugurate Kurram Tangi Dam project on January 4, 2017. He said that Kurram Tangi Dam is a significant project for socio-economic uplift of the people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
About Mohmand Dam project in Mohmand Agency of FATA, he said that detailed engineering design of Mohmand Dam is likely to be completed in February 2017. Afterwards, the process will be initiated for approval of the project by the government, financial arrangements and award of the contract.
The chairman WAPDA said, "We could not launch any big hydel power project after Tarbela and Mangla Dams. Work on Dasu Dam project would be started in April and it would be completed in five years." He said there is a potential of 100,000MW electricity in the country of which the WAPDA has identified areas for generation of 60,000MW. He said that cost of hydel electricity is much cheaper as compared with other electricity generation sources.
The chairman WAPDA informed the committee that the case of irregularities in the Mangla Dam Raising Project had been referred to National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He said that Neelum-Jhelum Power Project would be completed in the end of this month and the process of electricity generation would start in April 2017. The committee recommended that names of the members of technical committee be provided to the committee who changed the design of Rathoa Haryam Bridge.
During the discussion on construction of Rathoa Haryam Bridge, the energy chief of Ministry for Planning, Development and Reforms admitted mistake of his ministry and said that Central Development Working Party (CDWP) approved this project regarding change of bridge from cable stayed to conventional pre-stressed, without considering ground realities which further delayed the implementation on the project.
According to findings of a high-level enquiry, originally proposed Cable Stayed Bridge (Zone-III portion) was based on the ground realties, being the most appropriate option as time has proved. "Serious irregularities by NESPAK in designing of construction of Rathoa Haryam Bridge across Reservoir Channel on Mirpur-Islamgarh Road as well as Mangla Dam Raising Project have caused loss to the national exchequer," inquiry report said. MNAs Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Shazia Farid, Shamas-un-Nisa, Junaid Akbar, Sheikh Salahuddin, Sher Akber Khan, Qaiser Jamal and Iftikhar-ud-Din attended the meeting, besides officials of Ministry for Planning, Development & Reform and Ministry for Water & Power.
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