ISLAMABAD: National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water Resources wasinformed on Friday that Rs12 billion collected for Diamer-Bhasha Dam hasnot yet been transferred to the government’s account.
The NA body was told that the government had released Rs87 billion for theconstruction of dam whereas Rs894 billion were required for the completionof the project.
“The project, after completion in eight years, will produce 4,500MWelectricity,” officials told the NA body.
Committee member Maryam Aurangzeb asked for the details of expenditureincurred upon Diamer-Bhasha advertisements given to local and internationalnewspapers and TV channels.
Khawaja Asif noted that according to the Supreme Court’s decision in thecase, Pakistan Television (PTV) was not paid for the advertisements.
He said it was imperative that the parliament was informed as to how muchmoney was spent, out of the total collected funds, on advertisements in thename of construction of Diamer/Bhasah Dam.
The committee directed the officials to clarify in the next meeting thelatest position of funds deposited for the dam as well as the expenditureincurred on advertisement through electronic and print media.
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The NA body refused to confirm the minutes of its previous meeting withdirection to the Ministry of Water Resources to take up the issue of powerstation proposed to be constructed at Chashma Jhelum Link Kanal in the nextCouncil of Common Interest (CCI) meeting expected to be held in near future.
The committee also discussed the issue of conservation of water anddirected the ministry to chalk out a mechanism to assess the supply anddemand aspects of water. It directed the Indus River System Authority(IRSA) to install a telemeter on the main rivers’ headworks and present athorough report before the committee in the next meeting.
The committee also discussed the irrigated water resource management issueand recommended that sufficient funds be allocated for this purpose to allthe provinces, while grassroots public awareness be started throughseminars and electronic/print media in which the importance of clean watershould be highlighted to the nation.
MNAs Fazal Muhammad Khan, Ali Nawaz Awan, Ch Shoukat Ali Bhatti, DrMuhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Naureen Farooq Khan, Nuzhat Pathan, KhalidHussain Magsi, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Riazul Haq, Maryam Aurangzaib, andMunir Khan Orakzai, along with the parliamentary secretary for waterresources and Punjab irrigation minister attended the meeting.
