ISLAMABAD: Senators on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) prolonged legal battles, land disputes worth trillions of rupees, and the indefinite closure of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, valued at over Rs500 billion.
The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources, chaired by Senator Shahadat Awan, reviewed the compliance reports on audit paras concerning Wapda. The committee expressed serious concerns over the decades-long unresolved legal cases, disputes related to land worth trillions, and the stalled Neelum-Jhelum project.
Senator Awan, while opening the proceedings, pointed out from the record that some of the Wapda cases had been pending for 21 years, and the organisation had not paid attention to these cases for the last sixteen years. He informed the committee colleagues that Wapda was occupying land valued at Rs10bn, while cases exceeding Rs298.48bn were pending in courts, primarily concerning Mangla Dam lands.
Mr Awan also raised alarm over the “illegal contract of Nai Gaj Dam worth Rs30 billion”, which remained under investigation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He asked the newly inducted Wapda Chairman, retired Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed, to call an immediate meeting on all these audit cases, and a report on the progress of all these cases should be presented to the committee. The committee called for the swift resolution of such long-drawn cases.
Senators slam ‘grave’ inefficiency, demand urgent action
Other members of the panel also echoed similar concerns. “It seems that Wapda’s legal team is not working”, remarked Senator Faisal Rahman while questioning the lack of progress on longstanding disputes.
In response, Wapda Chairman Saeed informed the committee that he had been in office for only ten days and had already convened three meetings to address these issues. He conceded that Wapda had many cases for which no record was available “but we are trying to reduce the backlog”. He also conceded that Wapda’s records were not digitised but assured the committee that digitisation efforts were underway.
Defending Wapda, Mr Saeed said it was not that Wapda was occupying any property. He said the Wapda had already paid compensation to people affected by Mangla Dam, and now they were pursuing cases in courts.
On the issue of NAB references, Wapda officials confirmed that six cases were currently under NAB’s purview, including two of Kachhi Canal and two of Nai Gaj Dam. The Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources added that these NAB cases were against individuals and not against Wapda, distancing the ministry from direct responsibility.
The Senate Committee, however, insisted on accountability and called the Federal Investigation Agency and Nab to the next meeting for the other side of the cases and directed Wapda and the Ministry of Water Resources to present complete details of all cases. “If any government agency has taken responsibility, then it is our job to enquire,” Senator Awan emphasised.
While discussing the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, senators voiced concern over its closure following the collapse of the headrace tunnel last year. Officials briefed that the project had earlier faced a tailrace tunnel collapse, which was repaired, allowing operations for nine months before the new breakdown.
Senator Shahadat Awan, however, deferred a detailed briefing on the subject, saying that the Prime Minister had already formed a committee to probe into the project and fix responsibility. Therefore, the committee should wait for the inquiry report before further discussion, he said. Accordingly, the committee postponed the briefing until the completion of the inquiry.
The Standing Committee directed that Wapda’s legal team should immediately coordinate with the Auditor General of Pakistan and the Ministry of Law to resolve audit-related cases from 2015-16 and all criminal and PAC-related cases be reported in detail in the next sitting.
Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2025
