Abid Raza
LAHORE: Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Lieutenant General (retd) Muhammad Saeed has ordered a departmental inquiry into the tunnel accident at Tarbela’s fifth extension project.
The chairman made the remarks during his visit to the Tarbela fifth extension hydropower project to review the situation after the accident and chaired a meeting at the project office.
Consultants, the contractor and Wapda teams briefed the meeting that there is no threat to the integrity of the main Tarbela Dam or any of its structures.
The meeting held a detailed discussion on the possible causes of the incident. Precautionary measures and the strategy for dealing with the current issue were also considered, and immediate response measures were finalised.
The chairman also toured the project’s intake structure, tunnel, powerhouse and other key sites. He directed the teams to cover all aspects and submit a detailed report at the earliest. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Water Resources said Wapda had been asked to submit a comprehensive report on the Tarbela Dam matter.
According to sources, the inquiry into the incident will be completed within a week. Experts from outside Wapda will also be included in the inquiry.
The sources added that responsibility will be fixed and the report will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office.
A day earlier, water entered a tunnel and the powerhouse at the dam’s 5th Extension Hydropower Project (T-5) construction site after a weak section of rock fell during excavation.
Bilawal calls for political reset
Mehtab Pirzada
ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday called for a “political reset”, wherein all political parties must unite for the sake of the country, while also urging the prime minister to take measures to build trust with the government’s allies and the opposition.
The PPP chairperson was addressing an event to mark the completion of one million houses for flood affectees under the Sindh Flood Resilience Project (SFRP), which he said “made history” by being the largest house-building programme in the world.
“The Sindh government has built one million houses, and when this project is completed, we would have built two million houses,” Bilawal said.
Referring to the ongoing oil and energy crisis due to the US-Iran war, he said that Pakistan and the world were facing an “economic catastrophe” and stressed that “Pakistan’s politics will definitely have to be reset” to combat it.
“But via this reset, political parties will have to work together instead of fighting,” he added.
Emphasising that the public did not want to witness further fighting, the Bhutto scion reiterated, “We need a political reset.”
He invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to first “restore the trust of his allies”, then of opposition parties, “instead of picking new fights with them”.
The former foreign minister contended that the ongoing economic crisis was one of the worst in the world’s history, and therefore, the support of all Pakistanis, including those in the opposition, was needed to face it.
“Unless we face this crisis together, we will not be able to save our people from this difficulty.”
