A parliamentary panel Friday directed the Ministry of Water Resources to take up the issue of power station, proposed to be constructed at Chashma Jhelum Link Canal, in the upcoming meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI).
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Water Resources met under the chairmanship of Muhammad Yousuf Talpur here on Friday where it was briefed about Diamir-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund, as well as on the master plan for water conservation.
The committee did not confirm the minutes of its previous meeting held on November 06, 2019 with direction to the Ministry of Water Resources to take up the issue of power station, proposed to be constructed at Chashma Jhelum Link Canal, in the CCI meeting expected to be held in near future.
Ali Nawaz Awan said that the matter should be referred to the CCI. The federal secretary irrigation said that the CCI is scheduled to meet on December 11. Member committee Maryam Aurangzeb said that hydropower project on Chashma Jhelum Link Canal should be forwarded to the CCI.
Committee member Riyadh-ul-Haq said that the matter of hydropower project on Chashma Jhelum Link Canal was proposed to go to the CCI. The federal secretary water resources said that this is a Punjab project and every province has right to put hydroelectric power on the waters of its territory.
Federal Secretary Water Resources Mohammad Ashraf said that he is not in favor of taking the Chashma Jhelum Link Canal project to the CCI. The secretary irrigation Sindh said that the province would take this matter to the CCI. Punjab will not use a drop of water from hydroelectric project on Chashma Jhelum Link Canal of any province. Maryam Aurangzeb said that now the project has become controversial and it should be forwarded to the CCI.
The committee chairman said that the government of Sindh objected to 25 MW project on Chashma Jhelum Link Canal. He further said that chief minister Sindh objected to the project.
The federal secretary irrigation said that despite federal funding, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) delayed telemetry system. "We are now withdrawing these funds from the IRSA," the secretary said, adding that now the IRSA has to install telemetry system with its own funds which are about Rs 600 million.
The officials of Sindh Irrigation Department said that it is not IRSA's job to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) for power project on Chashma Jhelum Link Canal. The secretary irrigation Punjab said if anyone is concerned about water theft then one should install telemetry system on water reservoir. He further questioned why the IRSA is not installing telemetry system.
He said that the telemetry system should be installed at Chashma and Tarbela and at other locations as well. The officials of Sindh Irrigation Department said that Punjab also has underground water, while Sindh depends only on the Indus River.
The committee discussed the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams fund and the Ministry of Water Resources explained their position. WAPDA officials informed the standing committee that Diamer-Bhasha Dam to be of 4500 MW and would be completed in eight-and-a-half-year. The committee was informed that Rs 12 billion have been collected under Diamer-Bahsha and Mohmand Dams fund and the money is with the Supreme Court.
Khawaja Asif said that due to fear of former chief justice, TV channels ran free advertisements of dam fund and they should also do this for water, electricity and gas savings.
The committee decided to write to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) for details on the duration and cost of running advertisements for dams' fund.
Khawaja Asif said that the Supreme Court should be written to transfer the dams' funds. Free publicity was carried for dam funds. He questioned if the publicity campaign was for the dam funds or for someone else. However, the committee directed that the latest position of the funds deposited for these dams and the expenditures incurred on advertisement through electronic and print media be provided in detail to the committee in the next meeting.
He further said that in Punjab, a company buys water for millions of rupees and sells for Rs 55 billion. Wastage of water should be discouraged. Furthermore, the price of water should be fixed in order to stop its wastage.
The committee also discussed the issue of conservation of water and directed the ministry to make perfect mechanism for supply and demand aspects of water and directed the IRSA to install telemeter on the main rivers' head works and a thorough report be presented to the committee in the next meeting.
The WAPDA officials while briefing the committee said that a master plan has been chalked out to build 30 million acres feet of new water storage facilities in the next 30 years. Under short-term, water storage capacity is to be increased by 10 million acre feet by 2023. The WAPDA officials said that under medium-term plan from 2030 to 2040, water storage capacity to be increased by ten million acre feet while up to 10 million acre feet of water storage facility would be built by 2050.
The committee also discussed the irrigated water resource management issue and recommended that sufficient funds be allocated for this purpose to all the provinces and grassroots public awareness be started through seminars and electronic/print media in which the importance of clean water should be highlighted to the nation.
MNAs Fazal Muhammad Khan, Ali Nawaz Awan, Ch Shoukat Ali Bhatti, Dr Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Naureen Farooq Khan, Nuzhat Pathan, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Riaz-ul-Haq, Maryam Aurangzeb, and Munir Khan Orakzai, parliamentary secretary for water resources, and Punjab minister for irrigation attended the meeting.
Secretary Ministry of Water Resources, secretary irrigation (Punjab), special secretary (government of Sindh), additional secretary (government of Balochistan), additional secretary (government of KPK), and senior officers from the WAPDA along with their staff also attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019