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Islamabad [Pakistan]Nov 24 (ANI): Pakistan’s National Electricity Regulatory Authority (Nepra) director-general Tauseef Farooqui has warned that the tunnel of the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project could collapse at any moment with disastrous consequences.
Answering questions from senators at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Powers in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Tauseef Farooqui said the biggest concern was “what would happen if the rest of the tunnel collapsed,” Dawn reported.
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Electricity consumers have been paying Rs 1,000 crore a month since the tunnel was closed in July, he said.
“If this tunnel remains closed for a year, consumers will suffer a loss of Rs 1,200 crore,” Nepra chairman told the committee.
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The chairman of the committee, Senator Saifullah Abro, expressed concern about the state of the country’s major hydropower project and asked about the progress of the Farooqui restoration, Dawn newspaper reported.
“Work to repair the damage is ongoing, but there is no guarantee that the tunnel will not collapse at a later stage,” the Nepra chief said.
Meanwhile, the project’s chief executive said he hoped the restoration of the tunnel could be completed by next June, Dawn reported.
He told the committee that an international team of experts had submitted two preliminary reports after inspecting the tunnel. In a statement to the Senate committee, Muhammad Irfan said they had identified eight causes of the tunnel collapse but could not reach a conclusion until a final report was submitted.
According to Dawn, Irfan said the root cause behind the damage was the pressure exerted by the mountains on the underground tunnels.
Notably, China abandoned maintenance work on Pakistan’s 969 MW super-class Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project in September.
The Chinese cited local protests against the hydropower station and the failure of Pakistani police to provide reliable security, however, China abruptly withdrew the project, leading to major disagreements between Pakistan and China over the joint hydropower project.
According to Islam Khabar, the hydropower was built about three years ago and is worth Rs 5,080 crore. However, according to Pakistani media reports, disagreements between the Pakistani and Chinese authorities on the joint project soon emerged several times.
On the one hand, Islamabad accused the Chinese of improper work, and the Chinese accused the Pakistani government of failing to pay dues on time.
The Chinese complain of sporadic attacks on their officials and other workers involved in major projects, including CPEC. Pakistani authorities have countered the allegations by accusing the Chinese of failing to follow security protocols at the site.
In early June, Islamabad announced enhanced security arrangements to protect the ongoing multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor amid reports of attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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