ISLAMABAD, Feb 27: The World Bank has said it has no authority to form an independent commission to investigate the problems created by the Taunsa barrage repair works.

The bank was reacting to the demand by some people reportedly affected by the repair works.

This involved issues of sovereignty, and Pakistan’s sovereignty could not be shifted to the World Bank, said John Wall, bank’s country director, at a news conference here on Tuesday.

“We have no authority to appoint such an independent commission,” he said.

Mr Wall said a group of people working with two NGOs, Actionaid and Sindhu Bachao Tarla, was leading an agitation despite knowing very well that the World Bank could not interfere in such issues.

Responding to a question, he said these people were also aware that they could approach the inspection panel of the World Bank if they had any grievances against the bank’s funding. But for that, he said, they would have to satisfy the panel that the bank had violated its policies.

He said it was not a new project and only involved repair works. He said the 160 families reportedly affected by the Taunsa barrage repair works were originally happy with the resettlement plan which, in fact, pulled them out of poverty. Later, they raised privacy issues and the Punjab government took several steps like supply of water and provision of lavatories, he claimed.

The World Bank official said the group questioned the very need for the repair of Taunsa barrage; complained that the canal is closed during the winter season; and demanded of the bank to accede to the establishment of an independent enquiry commission to look into the problems created by the repair works.

Built in 1958, the Taunsa barrage was irrigating agriculture on 1.2 million hectares of land in arid landscape of Punjab and serving six million farmers and rural communities on regular basis. After 55 years of use, the barrage was considered to be unsafe and too risky to operate, both by experts of the Punjab government and the World Bank.

Before the commencement of the project, the government conducted a feasibility study on its key aspects. The study was then reviewed by a panel of independent international experts. The panel concluded that the failure of the structure was highly probable which would inflict flood damages, including loss of lives, and cause total failure of crop over 785,000 hectares of irrigated land, pushing millions of people into poverty. These considerations were instrumental of World Bank's decision to finance the project on emergency basis.

To resolve the issues related to resettlement, the government had established a Grievance Redressal Committee in 2004 and a Second-Tier Grievance Redressal Committee a month ago, the main purpose of which is to resolve the issues which could not be resolved by the first committee.