Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered to form a committee to reactivate the project, identify those responsible and take strict action against them
- Criminal negligence was committed by not getting third party verification done: PM
- Geophysical, seismic factors ignored in project’s construction: Report.
- Power generation will reduce in April 2021 and stop completely in May 2024.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday directed formation of a committee on an urgent basis to restart the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project, which had completely stopped power generation last month.
The Prime Minister was chairing a review meeting on the progress of the project at Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
During the main meeting, he was informed that power generation from the project was reduced on April 29, 2024, due to loss of pressure in the right and left headrace tunnels (HRT) of the hydropower project, which was completed and closed on May 2, 2024.
A preliminary inquiry report was presented at the meeting by former federal interior secretary Shahid Khan, who heads the committee probing the recent irregularities in the project.
He told the meeting that due to the closure of the project, the national treasury is incurring losses worth crores of rupees. It was told that the place where the fault has occurred at present is a rock bursting area.
The participants were also told that a significant decrease in power generation from the project was observed due to an abnormal drop in pressure at the HRT during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime in 2021, but it was ignored and not reported. “The matter was deliberately suppressed,” he said.
The meeting was informed that no repair work was carried out regarding the failure of the hydropower project in 2021 during the PTI regime, causing the losses to continue to mount due to “criminal negligence”.
The investigation report revealed defects that surfaced in 2021, leading to the suspension of power generation in 2022 due to a breakdown of the project’s tailrace tunnel (TRT).
It said that geophysical and seismic factors were also ignored in the construction of Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project and adequate concrete lining of HRT was not done.
Prime Minister Shahbaz issued directives to immediately complete the investigation report regarding the recent closure of the project.
He ordered to identify those responsible for the flaws in the project and take strict action against them.
He expressed anger at the negligence in the major power generation project despite experts pointing out flaws in its design and non-compliance with detailed geological survey.
The Prime Minister said, “Criminal negligence was committed by not getting the project verified by a third party.”
Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Energy Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jahanzeb Khan, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Rana Ehsan Afzal, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Sajjad Ghani, former interior secretary and other top officials were present in the meeting.
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