Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Minister for Information, Environment and Overseas Kashmiris, Mahmood Riaz said that Wapda missed an opportunity to fill the Mangla Dam during the last flood season and it also failed to settle even 10 percent people, which were affected due to Mangla Dam Raising Project.
He was addressing the members of Lahore Economic Journalists Association (LEJA) at Lahore Press Club here on Wednesday. The AJK minister underlined it was the first instance that Pakistan got the opportunity to fill the Mangla reservoir to its extended level, but unfortunately Wapda had missed it. He pointed out that the Wapda had completed the construction activity in a remarkable time but it did not bother to complete the housing colony and settle the affected people on time.
Riaz said that AJK had tremendous potential for hydel power generation and a number of domestic and foreign investors want to invest in the energy sector there, but AJK had no authority to start any power project larger than 100MW on its own. He disclosed that earlier the permissible limit was 50MW but after a long and tireless effort now the federal government had allowed the development of 100MW power projects.
He said that construction activity on Neelum Jehlum Hydro Power Project was underway. Chinese firm had completed a major portion of tunnels construction and the remaining work would be completed in six months. However, he pointed out that as it was a big project - it would start producing power generation sometime in 2018. In addition, he disclosed, some 20 small power projects were also in different stages, which would collectively generate 700MW electricity.
Speaking about Kishan Ganga Dam, he said that Pakistan should have developed dams ages ago, but it had missed that opportunity too. The energy demand in Pakistan had increased manifold during the previous decade. The federal government should plead Pakistan's case according to the Indus Water Treaty. United Nations and the World Bank should also play their role to resolve water dispute, he added.
Highlighting the investment avenues in tourism and trade, he said that the AJK government had announced the establishment of free zone in Mirpur. It had been proposed that special power lines to be set up from Mangla Dam for this free zone, he added. Answering a query, he said Punjab was a major trade partner of AJK, but the bad shape of road infrastructure was hurting the trade between Punjab and AJK.
He pointed out that most of the access roads could still not be developed after the 2005 earthquake. He urged Pakistani businessmen to visit and invest there to tap the potential of AJK. LEJA President Syed Jawwad Rizvi, Vice President Mian Shahid Nadeem, General Secretary Imran Adnan, Finance Secretary Rizwan Ali and other members participated in the meeting.
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