In a key policy shift, Wapda wants local firms to spearhead dams’ projects

LAHORE: In a radical policy shift, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has decided to hand the helms of mega infrastructure schemes, like the upcoming hydroelectric projects, to local consultants’ engineers, officials said on Friday.

“A major step has been taken by Wapda in principle to give the lead role to the local/domestic consultants’ engineers for construction of long awaited Diamer Basha and Mohmand dams”, an official said while talking to The News.

Previously, Pakistan was mostly relying on the lead role of foreign consultants which obviously greatly helped Pakistan to complete Indus Replacement Works but it did not sufficiently help in building capacity of local engineers.

The step is being labeled as a major move towards self-reliance for technical capacity besides its tremendous socioeconomic spinoffs.

Early construction of both these dams assumes immense importance for meeting burgeoning water needs of Pakistan. Following a decision taken by the Supreme Court, Diamer Basha Dam and Mohmand Dam, having an estimated costs of about $14 billion and (PC-I cost) Rs309.56 billion, respectively, will be built on priority. The apex court has also established a crowd-fund for raising finances for these projects.

However, the decision of Wapda to give lead role to local consultants has irked the circles having vested interests and they are trying to create doubts about the abilities of local engineers to handle such mammoth projects.

It has been learnt that a domestic consortium will continue to seek support of international consultants wherever required.

Besides creating a pool of engineers, the plan will provide opportunities to a large number of talented homespun technologists.

It is hoped the plan succeeds despite resistance from the quarters of interest, an official source said.

The source also asserted that there would be competitive bidding for awarding various components of the Diamer Basha and Mohmand Dams. The Wapda will strictly follow Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and other regulations. However, only local companies or their consortiums/joint ventures will be given the lead role in consultancy as a result of open contract awarding process.

Terming the decision as being in the broader interest of the country, a former manager of a leading water sector project said this should be a guiding principle for awarding all future water sector projects.

“Our companies can execute such magnitude of construction work involving complex technology of Roller Compact Concrete (RCC),” he said adding they could hire foreign expertise whenever needed for ensuring quality of work.

He recalled that after the completion of Indus Basin Replacement work, which was spearheaded by foreign consultants, Wapda did plan to give lead role to foreign companies for the construction of Kalabagh Dam. “This practice continued in awarding of strategically important Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project also, which saw undue delays and huge cost overruns,” he observed.

However, he added, the Mangla-Raising Project was given to local consultants, who successfully completed by local lead consultants very much within the cost and timeframe.

Both Diamer Basha, Mohmand Dams are to be constructed under the guidelines given by the Supreme Court of Pakistan as per a historic decision in its judgment dated July 4, 2018. According to the decision, an Implementation Committee, headed by Chairman Wapda for Diamer Basha and Mohmand Dam (ICDBMD) has been constituted for their construction and also for the oversight of execution of their works.

Diamer Basha Dam is proposed to be constructed on River Indus, 40 kilometers downstream of Chilas town. The dam site is located in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 315 kilometer upstream of Tarbela Dam. The project has three main objectives including flood mitigation through effective water regulation, provision of water for agriculture through water storage in the reservoir and generation of low-cost hydel electricity. It will have a gross water storage capacity of 8.1 million acre feet (MAF) and live water storage capacity of 6.4 MAF with a generation capacity 4500 megawatts.

Mohmand Dam, formerly known as Munda Dam, will be constructed on River Swat about 5 kilometer upstream of Munda Head works in Tribal District Mohmand of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The main objectives of the projects are flood control, irrigated agriculture development, and hydropower generation. It will have a live water storage capacity of 0.676 MAF with generation capacity 800 megawatts.