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| Delegation visits Mangla, Neelum-Jhelum projects tomorrow |
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
By Mehtab Haider
ISLAMABAD: A high-powered delegation, headed by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission (PC) Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali, is getting a rented helicopter at the cost of national exchequer for a one-day visit to the sites of the Mangla Upraising Project and the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Power Project (NJHEP) tomorrow (Friday).
The national exchequer will have to bear hundreds of thousands of rupees for the visit without exactly determining what will be achieved out of it. The delegation comprises Sardar Assef, AJK Prime Minister Farooq Haider, Wapda Chairman Shakil Durrani, Planning Commission’s Member Infrastructure Akram Malik, PC’s Member Implementation Lt Gen (retd) Zubair and the AJK chief secretary.
When contacted on Wednesday, Sardar Assef said the visit of two sites could not be done without a helicopter. “It is not meant for fun but this is being done to ensure visit of two sites of our development project,” he concluded.
However, some sources questioned how much important the visit could be, claiming that non-technical people were visiting the sites and there was a need to do cost/benefit analysis before proceeding towards such a costly sojourn.
The NJHEP as well as Mangla upraising project were already facing cost and time overrun, causing billions of rupees losses in the shape of increased cost for completing the development projects.
According to a brief about NJHEP, a copy of which is available with The News, the physical and financial progress stood at 8.50 percent and 13.07 percent respectively. “Saudi Arabia signed an $80 million agreement with Pakistan on Tuesday last while the EXIM Bank of China will provide $400 million for the NJHEP,” official document states and added that the Islamic Development Bank would also provide financial assistance for this project.
The total land required from the project is 3,200 kanals out of which 2,700 kanals of land is awarded to Wapda. There are some unresolved issues, including transfer and possession of some essentially required land for the project, while power supply by the Electric Department of the AJK to the project site is not adequate in quantity and quality. There is a delay in construction of damaged bridge Garhi Daupata and another bridge at Mojohi by the EEAP department.
The project envisages the diversion of Neelum water through tunnels at Nauseri about 41 km upstream of Muzzafarabad and outfalling in the River Jhelum at Chatter Kalas in the AJK, where the powerhouses are located. Against the approved PC-1 cost of Rs 84.502 billion, the spending on Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project stood at Rs 11.046 billion till September 2009.
The time schedule for completion of this project was already revised from June 2013 to November 2016 while cost overrun was underway and Wapda would finance it from its own resources.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
