September 19, 2006	Tuesday	Sha'aban 25, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 18: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has agreed in principle to order an enquiry into the implementation delays and cost overruns of the Kacchi canal in Balochistan on the recommendations of the planning commission and the ministry of water and power, it is learnt.

The cost of the Kacchi canal that stretches between Punjab and Balochistan was started in 2002 at an estimated cost of Rs31.20 billion and was to be completed by June 2008. The project cost, according to Wapda estimates, had increased to about Rs70 billion because it was started without proper planning and meeting relevant procedural codes. The completion target is unknown now.

Informed sources told Dawn on Sunday that the prime minister has, however, not assigned this enquiry to any individual or the forum owing to diverging views of two institutions: The Planning Commission and the Water and Power Ministry. As a result, the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission (PMIC) is likely to investigate the delays and cost overruns.

The sources said the prime minister is expected to hold a meeting of all the stakeholders in a couple of days to come out with a decision as many within the government attributed these delays to the law and order situation in Balochistan, particularly in the case of contract KC-6 A, B and C in Balochistan and litigation over KC-5.

These sources said the minister for water and power, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, had assigned to the secretary, water and power, Ashfaq Mehmood, to investigate into the matter and submit a report within two months.

The planning commission, however, believed that an enquiry should be conducted independently instead of giving this responsibility to the sponsoring agency, which may also have to share the responsibility for the delays and cost increases. These sources, however, said the monitoring responsibility of both the ministries of planning and power has come under debate.

Separately, the minister for water and power was informed last month that three major water sector projects — Mangla dam raising, Katchhi canal and Gomal Zam dam — were suffering from cost overruns and slow implementation due to poor planning, faulty monitoring and security problems.

These projects costing Rs150 billion are part of seven major irrigation schemes launched by the Musharraf government.

The planning commission, said these sources, has also proposed to set up a focal point in the ministry of water and power to directly monitor the progress of mega-water sector projects on a continuous basis so that technical faults and implementation problems could be resolved or brought to the notice of the government without delay.

Similarly, the Rs64billion Mangla dam project was behind its construction schedule. Although the main dam structure was on schedule with more than 96 per cent of the work completed, two other components, namely the Dhangali Bridge and Jeri dam, could not go beyond 15 per cent and 55 per cent respectively against their targeted schedule of 80 per cent.

Likewise, the Rs13billion Gomal Zam dam in Balochistan has been delayed by more than two years due to security problems. However, a new contract has been given to the Frontier Works Organisation of the Pakistan Army to complete it at a negotiated price, which is being kept secret for the time being.