Govt's 'delay' of Bhasha Dam till 2037, represents an 'existential threat' to Pakistan.

[waheed gul]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=592092664241617

ایک نہایت سنسنی خیز رپورٹ ، اسوقت تمام پاکستان آنکھیں بند کیے سویا ہوا ہے کسی کو کوئی فکر نہیں ہے ۔ کالاباغ ڈیم تو خیر سے بنایا ہی نہیں گیا اور اوپر سے بھاشا ڈیم پہ بھی کام روک دیا گیا ہے ۔ کل کو جب موٹر پمپوں سے پانی کی بجائے ریت نکلے گی پھر ہوش آئے گا کیونکہ پاکستانی کا زیر زمین پانی کا ذخیرہ بھی ختم ہورہا ہے ۔


Bhasha Dam delayed till 2037

Munawar Hasan Wednesday, July 09, 20

LAHORE: The commissioning of multi-purpose Diamer Bhasha Dam on River Indus has been postponed by another about 17 years as this mega project, having strategic importance, is now expected to be completed in the year 2037 instead of 2020, literally converting the water crisis into an existential threat to the country.

According to documents available with The News, the Dasu Hydropower Project is being given preference to the Diamer Bhasha Dam, ignoring imminent threat of water shortage and floods.

A Wapda spokesman said Wapda was vigorously working on the project. This change in time frame has been termed as a strategic blunder being committed by the departments concerned which will leave the country in a famine-like situation due to shortage of water. On the other hand, the country will be a target of catastrophic floods.

Having failed to make any headways in arranging finances for the mega Bhasha Dam project, sources said the authorities concerned had decided to put its construction on the backburner.Resultantly, a policy shift has been made to give preference to hydel generation to water storage and flood mitigation with initiating work on the Dasu Hydropower Project. Putting aside the previous plan to first construct the Diamer Bhasha Dam, the prime minister laid the foundation stone at the ground-breaking ceremony of Dasu Hydropower Project a couple of weeks back.

The construction of Dasu Hydropower Project has automatically delayed the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam upstream on River Indus, sources said, adding the estimate about river flows, sediment volume, power generation and flood size had been made for the Dasu Hydropower Project while taking into consideration the scenario without the Bhasha Dam in the upstream.

The expected commissioning date of the Bhasha Dam has been mentioned on page 7-48 of the Environmental & Social Assessment Report of Dasu Hydropower Project (reviewed draft-March 2014) as the year 2037. It is stated that before completion of Bhasha Dam, the Dasu Hydropower Project in the downstream will cater to the needs of power base load while after commissioning of the dam, it will work as a peaking facility in view of the guaranteed flows of the Bhasha Dam.

Wapda seems to be tightlipped on the important aspect of water sector projects. Its spokesman did not accept or deny the content of the report about deferment of the Bhasha Dam. After three days of deliberations, its spokesman said, “Wapda will not comment on news about delay in the construction of Bhasha Dam.” He insisted that work on the Bhasha Dam was going on vigorously.

The building of Bhasha Dam is being deferred at a time when Pakistan enters into acute level of ‘physical water scarcity’. The per capita water availability per year in Pakistan, which is located in an arid climate zone, is presently estimated at 1007 cubic metre which will further reduce to 999 cubic metre with the advent of 2015. In the year 2037, when the Bhasha Dam is expected to be commissioned, water availability will touch rock bottom of 711 cubic metres per capita, which is below than the shortage of water prevailing in African countries.

The population of Pakistan will be around 262 million against present population of 185 million. Will we be able to feed this population with scarce water resources?

As far as flood mitigation impact is concerned, the Bhasha Dam provides an excellent solution. According to Wapda’s own assessment, had the Diamer Bhasha Dam been constructed before 2010, it could have saved the flood devastation amounting to $10 billion.

Increase in water storage capacity is also vital due to the fact that Tarbela and Mangla Dams are being silted up. It is estimated that by 2025, the Tarbela Dam will be silted about half the original capacity, slashing its water shortage capacity significantly. In this scenario, deferring or slowing down Bhasha will have detrimental consequences on water availability in the coming years. Seasonal water storage is number one benefit of Bhasha which Dasu cannot provide.

One of the major reasons in deferment of Bhasha Dam is lack of funds. Wapda, while ignoring all the facts about the looming water crisis and threat of floods, readily opted to build Dasu project as the World Bank showed willingness in provision of finances for it.

Even if the finances are arranged for the Bhasha Dam, sources claimed that Wapda has not the capacity of simultaneously working on two mega projects. One project has to be delayed for making way for the construction of another, a senior official said.

Last but not the least, the construction of Dasu Hydropower Project ahead of Bhasha Dam will further complicate problems associated with the gigantic logistic issues involving upgradation of Karakoram Highway (KKH). Leave alone requirement of KKH expansion and construction of numerous bridges over a stretch of hundreds of kilometers, the lake of Dasu Hydropower will submerge about 50-km-long stretch of KKH, further delaying the work on Bhasha Dam in the upstream.

Just for a reference, the Attaabad Lake, which was formed further upstream as a result of massive landsliding in the year 2010, submerged about 20 km stretch of KKH. A fraction of this part of the affected highway is yet to be reconstructed and all the passengers and even vehicles are being ferried on boats from there onwards.

Commenting on the developing scenario, an expert said, instead of building the Diamer Bhasha Dam on war footing basis, the decision of going ahead with construction of Dasu Hydropower Project is not a wise approach given the fact that it will not address the two biggest problems i.e. water shortage and flood mitigation.

“By promoting the construction of Dasu over Bhasha, we accept substantial loss of energy every year and water shortage while completely ignoring the flood mitigation benefits,” he observed.

The Bhasha reservoir will have the capacity to perform excellent sediment-retention function for a long period of 35 to 40 years. At Tarbela, sediment delta is getting closer to its power intakes and posing threat to its functioning.

Retention of sediment in the Bhasha reservoir will provide relief to Tarbela and Dasu project as well. The Diamer Bhasha Dam would increase the life of Tarbela Dam by 35 years due to retention of sediment while power generation at all power projects downstream will generate additional power due to sustained flows of water.

Dasu, being a run-of-river hydropower project with a small reservoir capacity to cater for power peaking needs, will face severe problems of silting. If it is constructed before Bhasha, flushing of sediments deposited in its reservoir will be required from early years of its operation. Low level flushing tunnels have been provided for this purpose. However, experts said, a successful flushing can only be done with a large discharge of water at low reservoir level. This implies that during flushing, which will extend for about six weeks in summer every year, the power house will have to be shut down.

Therefore, production of hydel power will be denied when it is most needed. As per official estimate, about 20 to 30 percent reduction in power generation will have to be borne in power generation due to flushing of sediments. For a detailed Wapda version, these points were also emailed to the director public relations at his official address on July 1, 2014, which he acknowledged on the same day and promised to give his organisation’s version.

He later said on the phone that officials concerned were not available so he would get their comments tomorrow. Next day, he called to say that he had got the comments on the points but he would share them after getting advice from the chairman of Wapda, who was, according to him, in Islamabad.

The next day on July 03, 2014, the director public relations again phoned and said that there would be a meeting on the Bhasha Dam next week and it would be better not to publish this story. Finally, he said Wapda will not comment on the story.“But you can mention it in your story that Wapda did not comment on this news,” he concluded.

Bhasha Dam delayed till 2037 - thenews.com.pk

 

[Bilal.]

If the work on bhasha dam and other water storage projects is not started immediately, this nation will suffer devastating consequences by 2030-2035 of extreme water and food shortage.

 

[Dubious]

If the work on bhasha dam and other water storage projects is not started immediately, this nation will suffer devastating consequences by 2030-2035 of extreme water and food shortage.

someone tell NS that!

Just like how these politicians pushed us back on electrical crises due to PPP not doing anything now NS is following in its footsteps! Bravo!

 

[Bilal.]

someone tell NS that!

Just like how these politicians pushed us back on electrical crises due to PPP not doing anything now NS is following in its footsteps! Bravo!

We as a nation think along the line ke aaj mazzay kerlo kal kis ne dekha hai... Experts kept on predicting electricity crisis and the governments did nothing, they predicted gas crisis and the governments slept... Now everyone is running around like headless chicken when we are neck deep in the above crisis. The experts have warned of dire water and food shortage if new water storage projects are not built and everyone is sleeping and what the result will be is not hard to predict.

I would be the happiest person if he government starts implementing these projects.

 

[Viper0011.]

If the work on bhasha dam and other water storage projects is not started immediately, this nation will suffer devastating consequences by 2030-2035 of extreme water and food shortage.

Is this one of them hate the current government threads? From what I know (while sitting in the US) is that there are about 6 medium and large size water reservoir and hydro electric projects being built. There are two projects that the state government in Karachi doesn't want to undertake......how's that the federal government's fault when your state level government doesn't cooperate? Land acquisition, and all is by law done at the state level. Feds can only help with money......

 

[Bilal.]

Is this one of them hate the current government threads? From what I know (while sitting in the US) is that there are about 6 medium and large size water reservoir and hydro electric projects being built. There are two projects that the state government in Karachi doesn't want to undertake......how's that the federal government's fault when your state level government doesn't cooperate? Land acquisition, and all is by law done at the state level. Feds can only help with money......

Sir, no i like to be objective in my criticism and don't believe in bashing anyone for the heck of it. As far as I know all the hydel projects are run of the river type and are not meant for water storage. You can correct me if I am wrong and I would be thankful for that. As for land acquisition, if there is a will to build something such small barriers can be overcomed easily. After all land acquisition for other projects like gidani, Dasu, etc. was also achieved easily. Plus these dams are federal projects, not provincial. The projects in Karachi that you are talking about are related water supply and sewerage which is indeed provincial level subject but I am talking about big water storage dams like basha.

 

[TheFlyingPretzel]

The scientists who predicted a water shortage in the region, and whose predictions have cause widespread panic in the sub-continent, have re-visited their studies on the rate of melt of the Himalayan glaciers. A friend of mine used to say that the Himalayas are an infinite source of water for the Indus. There may be more truth to his words now, than ever.


Himalaya glacial melt set to peak by 2070

The river systems fed by the glaciers of the are a vital source of water, food and energy for hundreds of millions of people downstream. Trying to predict the impact of climate change on glaciers in such a large and inaccessible area as the Himalayas – with research made more difficult by bitter intra-regional rivalries – is no easy task. While some studies say rising temperatures in the mountains and the melt of glaciers will lead to falling river levels downstream and drought in what is one of the most densely populated regions on the planet, other reports paint a more sanguine picture.

In a study in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists say that in two of the region’s most important river basins – the Ganges and the Indus – water levels are unlikely to drop over the next century. This contrasts with earlier studies – including one by the same authors – suggesting water levels in these rivers would drop significantly by 2050, threatening the livelihoods of millions.

The new report, Rising river flows throughout the twenty-first century in two Himalayan glacierized watersheds, says that in some parts of the Himalayan region, river flow losses as a result of less glacial meltwater will be compensated by an increase in monsoon rains.The lead author of the report is Dr Walter Immerzeel, a mountain hydrology and climate change specialist at Utrecht University and at present a visiting scientist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal.

Four years ago Immerzeel and his colleagues published a report predicting a considerable drop in water levels in the same rivers by 2050. “We are now using a more advanced glacier model that takes into consideration how slowly glaciers respond to climate change” says Dr Immerzeel. Marc Bierkens, professor of Hydrology at Utrecht and a report co author, says the modelling research shows the size of the glaciers in the watershed of the Indus and the Ganges will decrease during the 21st century. “Yet, surprisingly enough, water discharge in this region is increasing, rather than decreasing. The reasons vary greatly from one watershed to another.

Rainfall impacts

Bierkens told Climate News Network that the latest research findings were the result of using a more sophisticated ice model together with a new set of climate models and the fact that, especially in the western Himalayas, the increase in rainfall with height is larger than previously thought. To understand the impact of climate change on river discharge, researchers created computer models of glacier movements and water balance in both the Indus and the Ganges watersheds. The models indicated that in the eastern watershed – in Langtang in Nepal where the Ganges has its source – the relatively smaller glaciers melt quite quickly but an increase in monsoon rains leads to a growth in water discharge.

In the western watershed – in Baltoro in Pakistan where the Indus has its source – the climate is dryer and colder and has much larger glaciers.The models show discharges in the area are increasing, mainly as a result of more glacial melting. Such melting, says the study, will peak around 2070 and thereafter drop but will be compensated for by an increase in precipitation. “While the results of the research predict a somber future for the Himalayan glaciers, they offer some good news for water and food security in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan” says a report summary.

Himalaya glacial melt set to peak by 2070

 

[Bilal.]

@TheFlyingPretzel

You are mixing two different things. You are pointing to the melting of glaciers which is another problem. I am referring to the water shortage in terms of lost capacity of our current reservoirs due to siltation and the increased demand due to increasing population and hence increased demand from agriculture sector to support the food needs of the population.

 

[Dubious]

We as a nation think along the line ke aaj mazzay kerlo kal kis ne dekha hai...

This very nature makes us less Islamic coz god fearing people (hypothetically will know kal nai dekha par ALLAH poochay ga uss walay din ko)...sadly that awareness doesnt exist at all...

Experts kept on predicting electricity crisis and the governments did nothing, they predicted gas crisis and the governments slept... Now everyone is running around like headless chicken when we are neck deep in the above crisis. The experts have warned of dire water and food shortage if new water storage projects are not built and everyone is sleeping and what the result will be is not hard to predict.
I would be the happiest person if he government starts implementing these projects.

yes, never listen to experts after all they only wasted their time in studies to get a degree while "brainy" politicians kissed *** ...and experts wasted time to do research while politicians ate the country up!

 

[Viper0011.]

Plus these dams are federal projects, not provincial.

Are you sure about it? I wasn't referring to Karachi water supply. I was referring to Sindh Gov't. Which you clearly took the responsibility off of. The federal government, technically shouldn't even interfere with provincial or state level projects like the dams. The dams are at the state level, the ELECTRICITY they produce, probably goes through a federally administered transmission line. Two very different things. People living in a State are referred to as such, otherwise, there won't be a punjabi or whatever other stuff you have. Everyone would be "islamabadi" lol, i just created a new term.

Your posts clearly blame the current government for issues existing for over 70 years. Is that even sensible to do? Remind you, your current government is implementing more projects as we speak, than in the ENTIRE history of your country!

 

[Kabira]

@orangzaib

I don't know how true is this report, seem bogus. But do you think anyone will be ready to finance Bhasha dam? Because unlike for Dasu, WB already backed out of Bhasha dam.

Pakistan need $12-14 billion over 8-10 years.

 

[TheFlyingPretzel]

@TheFlyingPretzel

You are mixing two different things. You are pointing to the melting of glaciers which is another problem. I am referring to the water shortage in terms of lost capacity of our current reservoirs due to siltation and the increased demand due to increasing population and hence increased demand from agriculture sector to support the food needs of the population.

There is, admittedly, a need to increase our reservoir capacity but, as the report indicates, fear of a water-crisis in the region may be premature to say the least. The crisis was predicted largely based upon the fear that the glaciers would melt out completely by 2035, and of reports suggesting increasing salinity in Pakistan's rivers and tributaries, thereby leaving Pakistan solely at the mercy of rainwater.

‘One of the most water-stressed countries in the world, not far from being classified as water scarce’, Pakistan faces an existential threat- one that could potentially hobble its already modest economic growth. In a country where growth is largely driven by agriculture, a shortage of water could have serious ramifications. Pakistan’s storage capacity, ideally recommended to hover around 1,000 days given its climate, stands at a meager 30-day supply (“Water storage capacity just for 30 days”, 2013). With water availability on the decline and high rates of population growth, Pakistan appears to be destined to make the transition to a water scarce country.

Pakistan’s glaciers are expected to melt by 2035 according to Zahid Hamid, (the federal minister for Science and Technology) which will have a disastrous effect on fresh water flows.

Of Pakistan’s total area, nearly 13,680 sq km is covered by glaciers that help boost river turnoff in warm weather. According to scientists, in just a period of 30 years, glaciers in the Himalayas have diminished by nearly one-fifth and it is believed that glaciers in this region will have disappeared by 2035 the effects of which will be devastating for the 1.3 billion people living in downstream river basins provides food and energy.

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan-Tibetan region is also known as the ‘third pole’ for its potential in contributing to rising sea levels as the area has experienced a rise in temperature of 1.2 degrees Celsius over the past 120 years which is greater than the increase in the global temperature. (AFP,2011) As a result of this enhanced warming, glacial retreat is accelerating across much of the region, with Himalayan glaciers retreating faster than the world average.

Watered by the glaciers of the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram, Indus is the largest river of Pakistan and the primary source of freshwater—it helps fulfill household and industrial needs and support nearly 90% of agriculture. The eastern tributaries of the Indus are Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej. According to the Indus Water Treaty (1960), India was given control over Beas, Ravi and Sutlej due to which they are left with less water as they flow into Pakistan.

There are number of small rivers which join the west of the Indus of which biggest river is Kabul. Other rivers include Swat, Tochi, Kurram and Gomal. The volume of these rivers increases during summers due to the melting of snows but decreases during the winter season.

http://spearheadresearch.org/SR_CMS/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Pakistans-_Water_Crisis_part-1.pdf

Although sedimentation too is a factor which needs consideration when factoring in the availability of water resources, to my mind it is of lesser importance than the availability of glacial meltwater. Because unlike sedimentation, which can be remedied by the construction or expansion of dams, there is no solution to the depletion of our glaciers.

Case in point, Mangla:

The Mangla reservoir had an initial capacity of 5.88 Million Acre-feet (MAF), which came down to 4.674 MAF in 2005 owing to sedimentation. This created the need for a dam raising project aimed at raising the height by that was completed in 2009 at a cost of Rs. 101.384 billion. This project effectively raised the dam height to 1242 feet from 1202 feet and increased storage capacity to 7.39 MAF.

Tarbela:

The lifespan of Tarbela dam was initially predicted to be around 50 years due to the fact that the river carries huge amounts of sediment (estimated to be around 430 million tons per year) which is now expected to extend to 85 years since inception

Of greater concern too, than sedimentation, are the construction of Indian dams i.e. Baglihar on the Chenab and Kishanganga on the Neelum-Jhelum, which have diverted a considerable amount of water from flowing into Pakistan. India plans to construct an estimated 200+ dams over the next 4 decades on every accessible tributary in the region.

"India aims to construct 292 dams … doubling current hydropower capacity and contributing 6% to projected national energy needs. If all dams are constructed as proposed, in 28 of 32 major river valleys, the Indian Himalayas would have one of the highest average dam densities in the world, with one dam for every 32km of river channel.

Four Asian countries including Pakistan will build over 400 dams - thenews.com.pk

The argument for more dams and reservoirs, thus, is justified. But the justification lies not in sedimentation, or, as once was, the depletion of our glaciers. The justification, now, is India's race to plug every Himalayan tributary on its side of the border and, of course, as you correctly stated growing demand.

 

[Muhammad Omar]

US to help raise funds for IDPs, Diamer Bhasha dam - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

PM orders land acquisition for Diamer-Bhasha dam - thenews.com.pk

Nawaz approves allocation for Bhasha, Dasu dams, motorways - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

delayed till 2037 how??

 

[Bilal.]

Are you sure about it? I wasn't referring to Karachi water supply. I was referring to Sindh Gov't. Which you clearly took the responsibility off of. The federal government, technically shouldn't even interfere with provincial or state level projects like the dams. The dams are at the state level, the ELECTRICITY they produce, probably goes through a federally administered transmission line. Two very different things. People living in a State are referred to as such, otherwise, there won't be a punjabi or whatever other stuff you have. Everyone would be "islamabadi" lol, i just created a new term.

Your posts clearly blame the current government for issues existing for over 70 years. Is that even sensible to do? Remind you, your current government is implementing more projects as we speak, than in the ENTIRE history of your country!

First as I said you are referring to k4 and s3 projects which are provincial projects. I am talking large dams to different class of projects. Dams are built by WAPDA (federal government).

If you read carefully I am blaming all governments including the current one. I don't know where you got the impression that I am blaming just the current government. Please quote in what part of my post I am blaming just the current government.

 

[Muhammad Omar]

LAHORE: A Spokesperson of Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), while clarifying a news item titled ‘Basha Dam delayed till 2037’ published in The News (July 09), has strongly refuted the perception that the initiation of construction work on Dasu Hydropower Project will put the construction of Diamer Basha Dam Project at the backburner. He said that both projects are of vital importance in their own right and assuming them to be mutually exclusive is not correct.



Refuting the Correspondent’s assertion of Basha Dam being delayed till 2037 based on environmental and social assessment study, the Spokesperson said that said study is about sediment management wherein it has been concluded that there would be no adverse impact of the sediments on Dasu Hydropower Project even if Diamer Basha is not constructed till 2037. The Spokesman clarified that it should not be taken to mean that the Dam will be delayed by 17 years, adding that the environmental and social assessment study should have been read in correct perspective.



The Spokesperson clarified that keeping in view the multipurpose nature of Diamer Basha Dam Project; the government considers it a priority project. He said that the government’s seriousness for Diamer Basha Dam can be gauged from the fact that it allocated Rs17 billion in PSDPfor the Project during fiscal year 2013-14 and the same amount was released by January 2014.



The government, he said, also released an additional grant of Rs. 10 billion for the project in June 2014. He further said that the government has also earmarked Rs. 15 billion in the budget for FY 2014-15 to complete the land acquisition and resettlement-related infrastructure development.



The Spokesman, while referring to the Prime Minister’s statements, said that the Prime Minister had repeatedly said that his government is committed to construction of Diamer Basha Dam and Dasu Hydropower Project simultaneously to meet water and electricity requirements of the country. The government is not only in contact with friendly countries and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) but also exploring various innovative options for arrangement of funds for construction of Diamer Basha Dam, he added. He further said that a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on July 08 also discussed the different options regarding financial arrangements for Diamer Basha Dam.



He said that the Prime Minister is on record as having stated that the government would build Diamer Basha Dam out of its own resources if no foreign funding for the project was forthcoming. Following the Prime Minister’s categorical statement on Diamer Basha Dam being a priority project, all kinds of speculation and perception regarding alleged precedence of Dasu Hydropower Project on Diamer Basha Dam should come to an end, he stressed.



Justifying the rationale for construction of Dasu Hydropower Project, the Spokesperson said that the country has been facing acute electricity shortages in the country. He said that given the projected power and water needs, the government has decided to construct a number of hydropower projects and water reservoirs and Dasu Hydropower Project is one of them.



Dispelling perceptions created by ‘some experts’ regarding Dasu HPP, the Spokesperson said that the stage-1 of the Project will generate 2160 MW of low cost hydel electricity. He clarified that the plant factor of stage-1 is 65%, which is the highest among existing hydropower projects in the country, refuting the argument about Dasu HPP being peaking plant which has a plant factor of around 20-25%.



The Spokesperson said that WAPDA carried out extensive studies regarding sediment management and reservoir operations with the help of mathematical and physical models. He made it clear that no flushing would be required during first 15 years of Dasu HPP’s operation.



Munawar Hasan adds: The delay in completion of Diamer Bhasha Dam is not a perception of an individual but a notion clearly mentioned in the official report of Wapda. It is explicitly written in the report under the sub-heading of ‘7.8.9. Impact of Daily Reservoir Operations during Peak Production’. It states: “After commissioning of the Diamer-Basha project (expected in 2037) DHP will depend on the guaranteed water releases from the Basha reservoir. During this stage it has been recommended to operate the Dasu plant as a peaking facility during 4 - 6 hours per day to cover the peak demand for electricity in the country. There will be a daily storage-release cycle during the winter low-flow period, with strong fluctuating water levels”.



The power generation scenario being discussed in above-mentioned paragraph taken from official report has nothing to do with the sediment management as wrongly described by the spokesman of Wapda. This part of the report is about inflow pattern and subsequent power generation scenarios.



Unfortunately, Wapda spokesman still has no time-frame about the completion of this highly important water sector project, commissioning of which has become a matter of survival for all of us. He does not bother to given any date about commissioning of this project despite the fact that the foundation stone laying ceremony at dam site has been organized at least at two occasions. If project is to complete before 2037, it must be announced to give some relief to masses.



As far as present government’s resolve to give priority to Bhasha Dam and details of funding for early construction of the project is concerned, it is pity that the cost of this mega project has been doubled since first groundbreaking made in 2006 by the then President Pervez Musharraf. And government is still taking steps for arranging funds for the project. The ministry of Finance is reportedly planning to organize a function in USA in October, 2014 in this regards.



In this backdrop, one can imagine that the project is virtually off track as physical work is yet to be launched at dam site. I will not mention gigantic issues relating to expansion and upgradation of Karakoram High and land acquisition that hinders progress in this regard but will like to add that Wapda is very much part of the problem in interrupting KKH expansion by floating its own proposal to resolve logistic issues being an executing agency.



About justification given in rationale for construction of Dasu Hydropower Project, I will say only that mega dam like Bhasha provides cheap and abundant electricity, supplies water round-the-year for irrigation and other purposes and a tool to mitigate floods. Conversely, a hydropower project like Dasu can only be helpful in generation of electricity.



The experienced experts who had worked with the Wapda on several key positions has given input in story on delay in commissioning of Bhasha Dam till 2037 on the condition of anonymity. They are of the firm believe that inordinate delay in construction of Bhasha Dam is a recipe of disaster. In view above mentioned facts, The News stands by its story.