Wapda has failed to submit the revised PC-1 of Gomal Zam Dam to P&D Division, which is a mandatory requirement for legalising approval of the project cost as all project financing is worked out on the basis of PC-1, says a Recorder Report.
The issue came up for discussion at a Planning & Development Division meeting held the other day to review water and power projects during the first quarter of 2007-08. According to sources quoted in our report, the Chinese contractor has already started work on embankment excavation, while Texar Co, which has the contract for construction of irrigation system, has yet to start doing its part.
(It will be recalled that work on the dam was abandoned by the Chinese company on the kidnapping in 2004 of two of its engineers). Wapda was advised to submit the revised PC-1 so that the project's cost would not have to be revised in future.
It may be mentioned here that the cost of Gomal Zam Dam has already undergone upward revision by about 150 percent, from Rs 4 billion to Rs 10 billion, which was reportedly to meet a major demand of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) for restarting work on the stalled project.
A government official had justified the increase in the contract cost in March this year on the ground that the prices of construction material had gone up since 2002. To be built on Gomal River in South Waziristan Agency, the dam would irrigate 163,086 acres of land in D.I. Khan Division, and will also generate 17.4 megawatts of electricity.
The dam's irrigation and power generation capacity makes it a project of crucial significance to the country's economy. While, according to one estimate, about 40 percent of our water projects have fallen victim to slow pace of execution, a unique feature of Gomal Zam Dam is that it is probably the first scheme in the water sector whose contract has been awarded on the pattern of European construction standards despite a sharp contrast that exists between the construction material prices and building costs in European countries and Pakistan.
The pace of execution of water and power projects has been so slow that the World Bank had warned Pakistan in February this year that this "go-slow" policy could put the economic survival of the country in jeopardy. A World Bank strategy paper has already characterised us as an "arid" country because the imbalance between a rising population and the depleting availability of water has made us one of the most water-stressed countries in the world.
Water famine-like situation has, in fact, already developed in many parts of the country, including large swathes of Balochistan, Thar in Sindh and Cholistan in Punjab, while rain-fed areas are the worst hit. Despite the looming threat of water famine, the deadlines set for completion of many dams have already passed. For instance, the completion of Gomal Zam Dam, which was scheduled for commissioning in June 2006 is nowhere in sight.
Similarly, work on the Rs 64 billion Mangla Dam raising project remains incomplete. There are numerous other hydel projects also that are awaiting speedy execution. Under Wapda's Vision 2025 programme, we have to construct storage capacity of 65 MAF. Can we meet this target with the tardy speed of project execution in the country?
It has been calculated that as much as 30 MAF of water flows down into the sea unutilised every year because of insufficient water storage capacity in the country. At the same time our energy deficit too has been rapidly mounting, and according to one projection it will be at least 1,000 megawatts from 2007 onwards, while the country's energy demand has been growing at the rate of six to seven percent per annum. It would be instructive here to quote the available data to put things in their proper perspective.
The inflow of water in rivers over the last 100 years has averaged 138.4 MAF - 16 percent in Rabi and 84 percent in Kharif, while 15.37 MAF of water is stored in Mangla, Tarbela and Chashma dams, which will gradually decline to 5.73 MAF in Tarbela, and 4.68 MAF in Mangla Dam respectively due to various factors, including silting.
Kalabagh, Bhasha and other medium-sized dams which the government wants to construct will store only 12 MAF of water, although there will be a potential for storing as much as 25 MAF of water. Incidentally, our per capita electricity generation is only a fraction of the world average.
On top of it, the thermal energy much costly though it is due to unfavourable agreements signed with IPPs, is contributing 72 percent in the energy mix, which is hindering our industrial progress, and eroding our competitive capability in export markets.
Politicisation of water and power projects has done incalculable harm to the country's economy. In fact, dams have at times been deliberately used to tap their divisive potential, such as in case of Kalabagh Dam.
The second factor that has stymied timely execution of projects has been the bureaucratic inertia and redtape, which has caused the country to slip deeper and deeper into water and power crises. There should be no more dithering from any quarter if we have to stay competitive in the world market, and the government should take Wapda officials to task for their failure to submit revised PC-1 of Gomal Zam Dam on time.
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