ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: The decision taken by the federal cabinet last week to construct five major dams by 2016 was taken without following the rules and procedures defined in the constitution, according to senior government officials. Background discussions with senior government officials suggest that all constitutional and legal fora like the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), National Economic Council (NEC), Council of Common Interests, and Indus River System Authority (Irsa) were bypassed in taking decisions on the five dams.
A senior official at the Water and Power Ministry confirmed that even the requirement of mandatory circulation of a summary to the relevant stakeholders for comments was not observed before the cabinet decision. The secretary and advisor on water and power could not be contacted for an official version despite a number of attempts over the last four days.
“The summary if any was not sent to the law ministry for comments, otherwise the anomaly could have been pointed out at an appropriate stage,” an official of the law ministry said requesting anonymity.
The cabinet decision appears to be illegal and can be challenged by any provincial government or even by an individual through a constitutional petition because the laid-down procedures were not followed, he said.
The official said the cabinet had the powers to consider any issue, including construction of big dams, but it had no powers to take decisions unless provided with financial implications of all projects approved and authorized by technical forums as well as by the CCI. The president alone had no legal or constitutional powers to take such a decision under any circumstances, he said.
On November 5, 1984, the then federal cabinet had considered construction of the Kalabagh dam. All the governors attended the meeting. However, governors from the NWFP and Sindh opposed its construction.
Hence, the then cabinet constituted a three-member committee on dams comprising ministers for finance, industries, and water and power. It deliberated upon the subject and constituted a technical committee but no decision could be taken.
Under articles 153-155 of the constitution, only the Council of Common Interest (CCI) can take a decision on water issues. The government had announced a few days back to revive the CCI for the purpose but its jurisdiction was violated before it could be formally constituted or its membership notified.
The problem is that once the CCI takes a decision it becomes binding and can be undone only by the joint sitting of both houses of parliament, explained a former deputy chairman of the planning commission.
Sources said even the cabinet was not provided with the full facts and figures regarding the five dams. Under the rules of business, the cabinet should have been told about the cost and benefit ratio of all the projects, their internal rate of return, technical aspects, geological aspects, sources of financing, repayment schedules, and social and environmental aspects.
Besides, even if all other legal and procedural requirements were to be sidestepped, the said meeting of the federal cabinet should have been attended by the provincial chief ministers and governors because clearly it was an inter-provincial matter.
The rules of business define how a summary to the cabinet should be written, what facts it should contain, how it should justify a proposal and the way it should be circulated and comments sought before a cabinet meeting.
Another senior official said that none of these principles were adhered to, and added: “They have not put all facts before the cabinet”.
Under the law, a project costing more than Rs500 million should go to the CDWP for concept clearance and then to Ecnec for preparation of PC-II and then PC-I. The PC-I again should go to the CDWP justifying the cost-benefit ratio of the project and other technical matters.
The Ecnec summary should again be approached for a policy decision, including financial arrangements which should include combination of multi-donor consortium, portions of projects to be financed and interest rates and loan repayment schedules. In the process, Irsa should certify a water-related project and the CCI should determine whether all the provinces are in agreement or not.
A water and power official confirmed that much smaller projects like the $785million National Drainage Programme, the $2.5billion Ghazi Barotha project and the $1billion Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) project in the recent past were funded with prior approval of the multi-donor consortia and CDWP-Ecnec route for final decision and implementation.
He said the hydrological report, geo-technical, cost-benefit ratio, design, tender documents and net availability of water reports were not available at least for two major projects like Bhasha and Akhori dam and hence could not pass through the tight technical and planning examination at this stage.
He said it was most likely that the Bhasha dam would be put on the back burner shortly on technical grounds and construction of the Kalabagh dam would be taken on first along with the Munda dam.
