IT appears that the controversial dam fund that was created in 2018 by the former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar is still very much intact. It has apparently even matured over the years to slightly more than Rs16bn. The current chief justice has asked the auditor general to audit the fund forthwith in coordination with the State Bank. It appears that the Supreme Court wishes to put to rest frequent speculation regarding where the funds collected under the 2018-19 dam construction drive had gone. It may be recalled that the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee had, over the past six months, asserted on multiple occasions that it would summon former CJP Nisar to inquire about the state of the fund.

While the PAC’s insistence on summoning the ex-CJP was likely more a political stunt meant to embarrass the former top judge, it has also prompted those responsible for the fund to be more transparent about it. This is a commendable development. The dam fund had been a misguided, overly optimistic attempt at solving a problem that was too big for any donor drive, however well-intentioned. Still, it managed to collect a sizeable sum of money from various public and private sources, and the public deserves to know how their contributions were put to use. The Supreme Court has directed that the fund be used only to purchase machinery for dam construction, but it must also consider other uses. While the Mohmand and Diamer-Bhasha dams, which it was originally intended to finance, have hit snags due to force majeure and insufficient funding, there are other equally good causes on which the money can be well spent. One of these is the maintenance and restoration of existing water infrastructure which may have been damaged in last year’s monsoon. If the fund could be redirected to such projects, it would technically still be utilised for water conservation, fulfilling its original aim.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2023