LAHORE: Pakistan Water and Power Develop­ment Authority Chairman retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain has directed the officials concerned to accelerate efforts for recovery of over Rs1 billion from Sindh and Balochistan under the head of operation and maintenance (O&M) arrears of Hub Dam.

According to a spokesman for the authority, the chairman said this during his visit to the project on Sunday.

He was informed that the O&M arrears payable by Sindh had risen to Rs742 million and by Balochistan to Rs290m.

“The officers should actively liaise with the two provincial governments for the recovery of the outstanding dues,” he said and added: “Wapda has been spending funds out of its own kitty despite monetary problems since 2013 to bridge the financial gap for O&M of Hub Dam. And hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.”

He said Hub Dam, completed on River Hub in 1981, has been significantly contributing towards fulfilling domestic and industrial water requirements of Karachi and parts of Balochistan, including Hub.

He said Wapda was evaluating technical possibilities to save the slippages of precious water to meet the needs of Karachi and Lasbela. The chairman also inspected the spillway and embankments of the project.

Sindh gets 63.3 per cent, while Balochistan receives 36.7pc out of the water stored in Hub Dam. At the time of its completion in 1981, the live water storage capacity of the reservoir was 0.76m acre feet that has been reduced to 0.65m acre feet due to natural phenomenon of sedimentation. Since completion of Hub Dam, water has spilled over seven times, while the quantum of spilled-over water stands at 4.13m acre feet.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2017