Senate panel told...: RBOD projects completed on time, but damaged by floods

ISLAMABAD: Secretary for the Ministry of Water Resources Syed Ali Murtaza informed the Senate Committee on Water Resources on Friday that the Right Bank Outfall Drain projects (RBOD-I and III) were completed on time but were damaged due to the torrential rains and floods in 2022.

The secretary Ministry of Water Resources told the committee that Wapda has prepared PC-I and now requires concurrence from the Sindh Irrigation Department, as RBOD-I and RHOD-III are managed by the Sindh government.

The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources held the meeting under Chairman Senator Shahadat Awan Friday at the Parliament House to review the status of recommendations given in its previous meeting. The committee had previously recommended that the ministry submit a report on the investigations conducted into RBOD-I and III.

The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources held an in-camera session to discuss the recent developments in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. The committee unanimously ratified the nomination of Senator Saadia Abbasi as a member of the Board of Governors of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources.

The committee recommended that vacant posts up to BS-16 in the ministry and commission be filled as soon as possible.

The Federal Minister for Water Resources Senator Musadik Malik stated that a request was made to the Federal Public Service Commission 13 years ago to fill these vacant posts, but they have not been filled to date. He told the committee that the ministry has now initiated the process and submitted a request to the Establishment Division to fill the vacant posts up to BS-16.

Furthermore, the committee recommended that the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) update its website regularly with current data on rivers and the monsoon. The secretary for the Ministry of Water Resources confirmed that the FFC website is reviewed regularly, with weather and flood updates uploaded daily.