Realignment of Karakoram Highway: The Dawn, July 27

By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: The $11.3 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam has hit snags due to 100-kilometre realignment of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), as the National High Authority (NHA) has jacked up its cost projections by a whopping 45 per cent, which is sure to increase the project cost manifold.
As a result, sources said, the Wapda had decided to go the course alone and show the door to the NHA. Wapda has also conveyed to the relevant authorities its intent to carry out the alignment itself and would involve the Frontier Works Organisation.
When contacted, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali confirmed that revised exorbitant estimates of the NHA to complete the alignment of the KKH had not been accepted. He also confirmed that Wapda would execute this project on its own.
About 100 km of the KKH will be submerged in the reservoir and it will require relocation at a higher elevation. The sources said the issue of re-demarcation of the dam site had also become a stumbling block in smooth execution of the project.
The sources said the total site of the dam, including powerhouses, lies in the Northern Areas, but Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, when he was minister for water and power, forced some portion of the site to be shown in the NWFP area to ensure a huge share of the net hydel profit for the province, a stance persistently and vehemently opposed by the residents and political elements of the Northern Areas, who demanded a fresh demarcation of the site to settle this issue. When the attention of Sardar Aseff was drawn towards this issue, he said: “A committee has been constituted, headed by me, to look into the matter.” http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23508