AS several crucial water-storage and dam projects in Pakistan — either planned or under construction — grapple with declining allocations, delayed cash flows, and interrupted releases, the decision to reduce annual funding for water-sector initiatives under the Public Sector Development Progr­a­mme (PSDP) and Annual Develo­p­ment Programme (ADP) is not only surprising, but deeply alarming.

This cut comes at a time when India has increasingly threatened to curtail downstream river flows to Pakistan, further exacerbating the situation.

In the newly tabled federal budget for 2025-26, the Ministry of Water Resources was allotted Rs133 billion under PSDP — Rs2bn less than the previous fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2025. This reduction is particularly concerning given the ministry’s own admission that it failed to complete 25 out of 59 water-sector projects during the fiscal year 2024-25.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb revealed in his budget speech that only 34 projects were completed at a cost of Rs295bn, leaving a quarter of the planned work unfinished.

Of the Rs133bn allocated this year, Rs102bn is dedicated to 34 ongoing projects. Of this, Rs95bn is earmarked for 15 key initiatives — including Rs32.7bn for Diamer-Basha Dam, Rs35.7bn for Moh­mand Dam, Rs3.2bn for Karachi’s bulk water supply (K IV), Rs10bn for lining the Kalari Baghar Feeder Canal, Rs4.4bn for telemetry systems in the Indus basin, Rs1.8bn for the Patt Feeder Canal, Rs690 million for Kachhi Canal flood repairs, and Rs5bn for Awaran, Panjgur, Garuk and Gishkor dams.

Water experts have expressed strong concern over this decline in funding, especially given India’s unilateral suspension of the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty and its threats to restrict Pakistan’s river flows.

Former Wapda member (water) Jawaid Latif lamented that the sluggish progress on reservoirs, dams and hydropower schemes stems mainly from low PSDP allocations, insufficient cash flow, inflationary pressures and frequent design changes.

According to Wapda’s own monthly report, nine major storage projects — including Diamer-Basha (4,500MW), Mohmand, Nai Ganja, Kurram Tangi stages I and II, Mangla Dam raising, Gomal Zam, Satpara and Darawat dams — are either ongoing or completed.

Meanwhile, 11 hydropower schemes such as Dasu Stage-I, Tarbela extensions and Neelum-Jhelum, along with 10 additional dams like Chiniot, Bhimber, Hingol and Bara, are at various study or construction stages.

Projects with timeline

Wapda anticipates completing Diamer-Basha by 2029, Mohmand by 2027-28, and Nai Ganja by 2026. Run-of-the-river Dasu Stage-I and the Tarbela 5th Extension are expected in 2027 and 2026, respectively, while K IV Stage-I and the Kachhi Canal extension are slated for completion in 2026 and 2025.

The 18.4MW Kurram Tangi Stage-I is projected to be finished by December 2025. Once completed, these projects are expected to generate over 9,012MW of electricity and add 9.693 million acre-feet (MAF) of water storage to the national grid by 2029.

Presently, Pakistan’s major reservoirs — Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma — stand at capacities of 1,550 feet, 1,242 feet, and 649 feet, respectively, holding a mere 13.7 MAF against the nation’s annual inflow of 145 MAF.

“Wapda has written a number of letters to the Planning Commission and others concerned for increasing allocation under the PSDP and releases in accordance with the actual allocations, but to no avail,” said Mr Latif, the former Wapda member, highlighting the importance of completing the water storage projects at the earliest.

Allocations

Under the PSDP for the ongoing fiscal year, the government, in accordance with the Water Resource Development Progra­mme Vision-2025, allocated Rs107.664bn instead of the reported Rs135bn, whereas the expenditure on various projects remained over Rs93.5bn till April 30.

The allocations for dams or water storage projects in FY25 under PSDP amount to over Rs63.3bn, followed by Rs39.34bn for canals’ projects, Rs3.09bn for research, investigation and monitoring and Rs1.94bn for engineering studies. Likewise, the allocation for hydropower projects was Rs169.92bn, whereas the expenditures till April 30 were Rs74.47bn.

For hydropower study projects, Rs8.3bn was allocated, whereas the expenditures were just Rs787m till April 30. It means that either the government made fewer releases or Wapda couldn’t utilise the funds fully as allocated under the PSDP. For fiscal 2026, Rs90.2bn has been allocated for the generation and provision of cheap and green electricity projects.

According to another water expert, who worked as a senior executive for the hydro-resource planning for Wapda and retired a few years ago, the excellent model for hydro-resource planning and launching water storage projects was introduced in Ayub Khan’s era.

“In 1985, I saw the first study of Mohmand Dam, which is yet to be completed after four decades. Hope it will be completed in December this year,” said the former Wapda official, who wished not to be named.

He said lack of timely decisions, commitment, funds and increasing exchange rates were among major challenges to the launch and completion of water storage projects. Also, security concerns, such as those faced by the Dasu hydropower project executors, also increased the cost of the project.

He said international funding institutions were also not eager to sponsor the projects, which, according to them, have no revenue stream that could ensure repayment of the loans. On the other hand, the provinces remain anxious to receive net hydel profits from Wapda, but are little interested in investing their net hydel profits in the water sector.

Chenab and Chinot dams

Terming the Chenab River “the most vulnerable” as Pakistan that has a complete right to use under Indus Waters Treaty has no dam in its basin, while India made various run-of-the-river projects on this river, the official said, suggesting the government immediately start work on the Chiniot dam, which is ready for construction project.

Talking to Dawn, Riaz Hussain, a water resource engineering specialist, said Pakistan’s current water crisis is a function of insufficient storage, erratic supplies and external geopolitical pressures. With only 13.7 MAF of water storage against an annual inflow of 145 MAF, the country loses valuable surface runoff.

Nearly 80 per cent of Pakistan’s cultivable land — roughly 40m acres — relies on Indus Basin irrigation, while over 22m acres remain uncultivable primarily due to inadequate water availability and distribution. Recent Indian upstream interventions, exacerbated under strained bilateral relations, pose serious risks to downstream flows, undermining the Indus Waters Treaty.

The expert warned that without multipurpose dams, small-scale storage, smart urban recharge systems, telemetry-driven monitoring, and precision irrigation — all knitted into a robust national water strategy — Pakistan risks accelerating ecological decline and compromising food and water security. A national water strategy must blend infrastructure, diplomacy and community engagement, he added.

According to a Wapda spokesman, the authority is committed to water, food and energy security of Pakistan as it has been implementing the largest development portfolio comprising eight mega projects in the water and hydropower sectors.

These projects, according to him, are destined to revolutionise the economic landscape of Pakistan with much-needed water and low-cost hydel electricity for socio-economic uplift.

Wapda’s under-construction projects include Diamer Basha Dam, Mohmand Dam, Dasu Hydropower Project, Tarbela 5th Extension, Kurram Tangi Dam Stage-1, Nai Gaj Dam, Kachhi Canal Extension and Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme (K-IV).

Scheduled for completion in a phased manner from 2025 to 2029-30, these projects will double the Wapda hydel generation from 9,500MW to 19,500MW with an addition of about 10,000MW of clean, green and low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid.

Besides, these projects will also add 9.7MAF to the gross water storage of the country, sufficient to irrigate another 3.9m acres of land and provide 950m gallons per day for drinking purposes to Karachi and Peshawar. “These projects have also been providing about 35,000 job opportunities throughout Pakistan,” he said.

However, the Wapda spokesman didn’t comment on the issues related to financial arrangements, delays and other constraints.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2025

Header image: Company working on project has diverted water flow from Kunhar River to the mountainside in order to build reservoir. — AFP/File