PML-N takes notice of glitches

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership has taken strong notice of the revelation made by a former WAPDA chairman that the World Bank did not want the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam and was making the project controversial.
According to PML-N sources, it has been decided by the party leadership to thoroughly probe this new revelation, made by former WAPDA chairman Shakil Durrani that after Kalabagh, the smooth and early construction of the promised Diamer-Bhasha Dam, which would produce 4,500MW electricity and store 8,000,000 acres feet of water, is being endangered both by the World Bank and the present chairman of WAPDA.
An official note recently circulated by the former WAPDA chairman and presently adviser to the Ministry of Water and Power Shakil Durrani, to all concerned revealed that the World Bank did not want construction of the dam though the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Friends of Democratic Pakistan are willing to finance the project.
“It is unfortunate that the World Bank is creating a controversy that might result in further delaying a project (Bhasha Dam) which was unanimously endorsed by the Council of Common Interests and has a national consensus behind it,” the adviser said according to media reports.
The official note, which has been sent to the Planning Commission deputy chairman, water and power secretary, WAPDA chairman and others reflected not only on the World Bank’s reservations on the Bhasha Dam but also disclosed how in a high-level meeting the WAPDA chief recently preferred Dasu Dam to Bhasha.
Shakil Durrani in his note added that Bhasha would also serve as a flood control dam and would be instrumental in increasing the life of Tarbela by at least 35-50 years. The flood damages in 2010 amounting to $10 billion and the loss of 2,000 lives could have been avoided if there was a large storage upstream.
He also felt that the costs of Dasu Dam have been understated and the construction period deliberately condensed by the World Bank. The actual cost of the Bhasha Dam would not be more than $2 billion as compared to that of Dasu Dam, he said. In the report he said a lobby in the World Bank was against the Bhasha Dam construction.