Now is not the time to be getting into a squabble about power-generation projects. Pakistan is a country that is quite literally dying of power shortages, and to find that one of the future projects on which much hinges, the Diamer-Bhasha Dam (DBD) is endangered is bad news indeed. From the contents of a note circulated by the former chairman of Wapda, who is the current adviser to the minister of water and power on DBD, it appears that the World Bank does not want the dam constructed by the Asian Development Bank, and that the Friends of Democratic Pakistan are said to be willing to finance the project. This is a large spanner in some very considerable works. With the failure to get provincial consensus on the Kalabagh Dam it was vital that the Diamer-Bhasha Dam got national support. This it did, with support by the provinces and the Council of Common Interests (CCI).
It now appears that the note circulated to the relevant line ministries not only contains the World Bank’s reservations on the DBD but appears to express a preference for a smaller dam at Dassu, downstream of the DBD project. The Dassu Dam would be a ‘run-of-the-river’ project and not a water catchment and management dam such as the DBD. The government has hitherto had difficulty raising funds for the DBD, which is likely to cost around $14 billion as against $8 billion for the Dassu Dam – a considerable difference and an easier sum to raise. The World Bank is prepared to put $500 million into the Dassu project, while the rest will come from a basket of donors. The smaller Dassu project will start to earn money fairly early on in its life and contribute to its own completion costs. This is all very well but the strategic significance of the DBD is far greater in terms of water management and flood mitigation. The two projects have large differences in terms of their completed output and it is clear that the Dassu Dam is more of a quick(ish) fix rather than a long-term solution that impacts positively across the power generation sector as a whole. The dispute has its roots in the antipathy of the World Bank to any major water project in Pakistan that does not have the bank at the helm, and to its view that the DBD is in disputed territory anyway (the Dassu Dam is not). In an ideal world both projects would be built. In the real world, and from a purely Pakistan perspective – the better in the long term is the DBD. Yet another knotty problem at the feet of the incoming government – making for a very busy first 100 days in office.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-8-181760-Dam-dispute
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