LAHORE: A day after three workers were killed and several injured in an explosion during rock blasting at the Diamer-Bhasha Dam construction site, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has directed all project contractors and consultants to revisit safety guidelines and put in place effective safety mechanism to avoid a repeat of such incidents.

“We express grief over the loss of precious lives in this tragedy,” Wapda Chairman Sajjad Ghani said on Saturday during his visit to the project site.

“Keeping this in view, the contractors and the consultants are required to review the current safety guidelines and ensure effective safety mechanisms to avoid such incidents in future,” he said.

The police said after the incident that labourers were preparing explosives for blasting when it accidentally exploded due to a short circuit at the site.

Mr Ghani, a retired lieutenant general, had a detailed round of the incident site and interacted with the workers during the visit. The chief executive of the Diamer-Bhasha Company, and other company officials and representatives of the contractors and the consultants were also present, according to a Wapda spokesperson.

The dam’s management informed the chairman about the causes of the accident and details about rescue and relief operations.

Mr Ghani also gave cheques to compensate workers who sustained minor injuries in Friday’s accident.

He had already announced a compensation of Rs500,000 each for the families of the deceased, Rs500,000 each for the workers severely injured, and Rs200,000 each for the workers with minor injuries.

This compensation is in addition to the one which the victims of the incident would receive from the contractor as per rules.

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam is being constructed on the Indus river, 40 kilometres downstream of Chilas town. Construction work is simultaneously underway on more than a dozen sites.

Later, the Wapda chairman also visited the under-construction Dasu Hydropower Project and reviewed construction work on a starter dam, cut-of-wall and an underground powerhouse.

He was briefed that the second diversion tunnel is scheduled for completion in mid-April and cut-of-wall in mid-May. Besides, the river diversion system is also expected to be completed by mid-May to pass through the Indus river around the year.

He urged the project authorities to complete construction work as per the schedule. The 2,160-megawatt Phase I of the Dasu Hydropower Project is likely to start power generation in 2026.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2023