Dasu power project: WB teams in Kohistan to review security arrangements

MANSEHRA: Two high-level World Bank missions separately arrived in Upper Kohistan to review the security arraignments at the Dasu Hydropower Project and hold talks with Chinese engineers and workers, sources said on Tuesday.

The teams visited the site where 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, two personnel of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and two locals, were killed and 28 others sustained injuries when a bus carrying them to an under-construction tunnel site of the 4,320-megawatt Dasu Hydropower Project exploded on July 14.

The members of these missions, including Masood Ahmad, Imranul Haq and Ahmad Imran Aslam, held two meetings separately with Wapda’s officials and district administration.

The WB missions arrived in Upper Kohistan for the first time after the Dasu bus explosion under tight security. They held a meeting with Wapda high-ups and grilled them about the pre and post Dasu bus explosion security situation. They also questioned Mohammad Masnoor, Chief Engineer Dasu Hydropower project, and Abdul Ghaffar stated to be the overall security in-charge of the project about the security arrangements and bus explosion. “They also inquired about the schedule of the re-launching of the Dasu dam’s execution which is still suspended since the bus incident,” an official said on the condition of anonymity.

The World Bank mission also held meetings with Deputy Commissioner Upper Kohistan Arif Khan Yousafzai and other officials and inquired about the security situation.

They also demanded foolproof security arrangements for the resumption of the work on the Dasu hydropower project for which the World Bank had pledged 70 percent direct financing.

Meanwhile, the Wapda’s talks with the China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) for the resumption of work on the Dasu dam have reached a deadlock as the latter, according to officials, were shocked over the loss of lives of their nationals. “This is the biggest loss of Chinese workers in any subversive activity in Pakistani. The families of the victims are in a state of shock over the gory incident,” said an official privy to the talks while quoting an executive of the CGGC.

The Pakistani side, being led by Chairman Wapda Muzammil Hussain, is optimistic that the CGGC would shortly resume the construction work on the 4320 megawatt Dasu hydropower project.