ISLAMABAD: The Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHPP), valued at over Rs500 billion and shut down since a tunnel collapse on April 2, 2024, is expected to resume electricity generation by March 2028, according to the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).
Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources on Friday, WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Muhammad Saeed said restoration work was underway and the authority remained committed to bringing the project back online. He noted that despite the tunnel failure, the project had already recovered nearly 80 per cent of its cost through the supply of low-cost electricity.
The chairman informed the committee that investigations into the tunnel collapse were continuing. He acknowledged that reports had identified the project site as being located in a seismic zone before construction began. The committee stressed the need for a transparent and independent inquiry into both the tunnel collapse and the project’s cost escalations to ensure accountability and safeguard future national infrastructure projects.
During the meeting, the committee also discussed Pakistan’s worsening water crisis. The WAPDA chairman warned that the country must urgently address water security challenges, noting that no major dam had been built since Mangla and Tarbela over five decades ago, while neighbouring India had constructed thousands of dams during the same period.
The committee reviewed the alarming depletion of groundwater across the country. Officials reported rapidly declining groundwater levels in several districts of Punjab, including Okara, Vehari, Sahiwal, Multan and Lahore, due to excessive extraction. Members called for adopting efficient irrigation practices, groundwater conservation measures and sustainable water management strategies.
Sindh irrigation authorities informed the committee that around 80 per cent of the province’s groundwater is saline and that a provincial groundwater law is currently being drafted. The committee requested the draft legislation for review.
Officials from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said a comprehensive groundwater assessment had yet to be conducted due to the absence of monitoring infrastructure, while Balochistan authorities reported that annual groundwater extraction exceeds available resources across 18 groundwater basins. Plans are underway to strengthen groundwater monitoring, construct recharge dams and develop GIS-based decision support systems.
Discussing the Nai Gaj Dam project in Sindh, the WAPDA chairman revealed that the original contractor had submitted a fake bank guarantee in 2009, resulting in an estimated Rs23 billion financial loss. The contractor was subsequently blacklisted, and the case remains pending before the Supreme Court. The committee emphasized the need for accountability while urging authorities to expedite the project’s completion, as it has the potential to irrigate approximately 28,000 acres of land.
The committee also reviewed progress on major water infrastructure projects, including Hingol Dam, Harpo Dam, Kachhi Canal, RBOD-I and RBOD-III, and expressed concern over funding shortfalls for water and power projects under the current Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Story by Khaleeq Kiani
