LAHORE, Feb 19: After reports about use of substandard steel in the Ghazi Barotha Hydropower Project, it has now surfaced that Wapda was also unable to check the use of substandard cement in the project.
According to a report of Wapda's intelligence wing submitted almost one and a half years ago, a supplier was able to re-route rejected slag cement to the project site from Oct 22, 2002, onwards. The re-supplied cement was directly taken to the site and used.
The report maintained that according to standard procedures, any rejected consignment of cement should be clearly marked as such and transported back to the factory.
In this case, it was neither marked as rejected nor sent back to the factory. Instead, it was stocked at the Attock Railway Station and mixed with the subsequent supplies.
In order to substantiate its allegations, the intelligence wing recorded confessional statements of supplier's representative at the Attock Railway Station and driver and conductor of a trolley in which the rejected cement was transported back to the project.
On receiving the intelligence report, Wapda constituted an inquiry committee comprising two deputy directors of the monitoring and surveillance wing who visited the site from Dec 12 to 14, 2002.
In its findings, the committee confirmed the allegations made by the intelligence wing. It found out that a consignment of 311 tons of cement was rejected by the chief resident engineer after laboratory tests. However, he did not mark it as rejected. The supplier re-supplied it to the project while the contractor used it in different civil works.
On the basis of its findings, the committee recommended that the project consultant and the supplier be blacklisted, the laboratory staff removed and an FIR lodged against the supplier. It also asked for action against the chief resident engineer who failed to mark the consignment and make surveillance more effective.
Surprisingly, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) chose to ignore the inquiry committee report for one year. The new management has now taken up the case and written some inquisitive letters to the general manager.
WAPDA'S VERSION: According to a Wapda spokesman, the authority wrote to the general manager about the inquiry committee report. The GM maintained that he had removed the consignment and not allowed it to be used. The reply was sent to the chairman who in turn asked the GM to produce evidence of removal of cement from the site. The GM is yet to respond to the letter.
He, however, agreed to the observation that the inquiry committee report was ignored for full one year. But now, the report would be taken up at the next authority meeting for further action, provided the GM has stated his position on the issue by then.