The Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) has prioritised $28.2 billion water and hydropower projects to be completed by 2020 and decided to follow the guidelines and safeguards set by the Asian Development Bank for providing funds and technical assistance.

This is the crux of the final report of FoDP’s water sector task force after including suggestions of the stakeholders. The report completed in about a year is scheduled to be launched on Feb 20.

“It is Pakistan’s political and policy leaders who will have to decide the course of action” — whether to have a binding commitment from provinces and the lending agencies or follow the normal decision process of five-year plans, annual budgets and partnership strategies with lenders about a roadmap.

The report says Pakistan has one of the largest, complex and integrated water system but despite greater issues its policy leaders were ‘flying almost blind’ despite an ominous threat from snow and glacial melt on the Indus system arising out of climate change.

The task force puts $12 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam in Gilgit-Baltistan as ‘priority number one’ for implementation after unanimity of views among all domestic stakeholders and bilateral and multilateral lenders.

Second on the list are six major projects with total cost of $14 billion — Kurram Tangi, Munda, Dasu, Kohala, Golen Gol and Bunji, to be developed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

There was unanimity among the member countries, lenders and stakeholders in Pakistan on the need for major dams and top priority for Bhasha dam.

On resistance from some provinces, the controversial Kalabagh dam has been dropped from the priority list, although the multilateral lenders had strongly recommended its construction.

Understanding the difficulties in taking major political decisions in an election year, the task force has also called for provincial strategies for the ‘next governments’ but advised the lending agencies to include these projects in the programmes already in the pipeline.

The task force has noted opposition from the Federal Flood Commission to putting responsibility of inspection of existing infrastructure and embankments on Wapda and left the issue for the government to decide.

The lenders have endorsed Punjab’s move to put in place an Asset Management Plan for embankments and to develop a financial method for maintenance of major embankments. Provinces believed FFC’s inspection of embankments was not up to the mark.

However, the task force notes “serious, cumulative problems of neglect of maintenance of major embankments by the provinces”.

It was agreed that good institutional, social and environmental policies were needed to attract external investment.

The task force did not agree to follow recommendations of the World Commission of Dams and decided to follow safeguard requirements of the ADB.

Despite insistence by some provinces that existing revenue sharing from large dams was sacrosanct, the task force said it would continue to advocate that Pakistan should adopt good global practices involving a formula of royalty sharing among affected provinces and local people and move away from the Tarbela-like arrangement that transfers maximum benefits to the province where the power house is located without giving project benefits to locally displaced communities.

The task force agreed that the 1991 accord was a great asset for water sharing among the provinces but urged to put in place an institutional framework that reduced current large political elements in its implementation and for better predictions for rabi and kharif seasons and transparent measurement of flows and losses to end mistrust.

The report notes strong agreement for improved on-farm water management (OFWM), the need for new infrastructure on canal storage and control structure.

Likewise, strong commitment has emerged for small and medium dams which should be developed by provinces but in integrated command area projects using modern technologies.

For this, all provinces have agreed to the objective of full cost recovery from users.

For better agricultural productivity, the stakeholders have also agreed to a $315 million assistance for OFWM, $140 million for small dams, $100 million for spate irrigation and $500 million for improved management of main canals.

The stakeholders have agreed to put in place new operating rules for major future dams and projects — moving away from agriculture as top priority to power and flood control whose benefits are larger than agriculture.

The FODP agreed to provide $500 million for a flood management programme to be completed by 2016.

The report notes major issues with bulk water transmission in Karachi, unsustainable groundwater use in Quetta posing an existential threat and deplores “no indication of willingness to address these challenges”.

It has also found broad agreement that the present institutional model is broken, most obviously financially as no utilities have operating ratio greater than 50 per cent, creating problems in meeting water needs in growing city peripheries and choking sewerage and sanitation services. It says the first step to address these issues will be for the political leadership to spend political capital for financial sustainability.

The task force says the FoDP should stay away from reforming city institutions unless there is a strong political commitment and then consider financing ‘transition costs’ for getting to financial sustainability.

Published in Dawn News

Protesters who blocked the Karakoram Highway in Chilas on Sunday, refused to open it for traffic on the second consecutive day, demanding that the police arrest the murderers of Abdul Wakil, who was target killed last week.

A resident of Chilas, Wakil, fell victim to sectarian violence in Gilgit. The city witnessed an upsurge in shooting incidents in which four people were killed and four others injured.

Wakil’s son, who was accompanying him at the time of the incident, said his father’s killers checked his national identity card before shooting him. Residents of Nagral, the place where Wakil was killed, said they handed over one of the killers to the police to prove they were against sectarianism.

Protesters have declared the highway will remain blocked till the murderers are arrested. Sources in the district administration said negotiations between the authorities and the protesters failed as they did not trust assurances given by officials.

Meanwhile, police in Gilgit said at least 12 people have been arrested so far and are being investigated. Since last Saturday, security forces have been given powers to shoot terrorists on sight.

“The blockade has left hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides of the highway,” said a resident of Chilas. More than 5,000 protesters rejected the government’s request to clear the highway that serves as the only land route connecting Gilgit-Baltistan to the rest of the country and China.

While briefing reporters in Gilgit on Monday, the chief minister said a new security plan had been devised to contain violence in the city, but he did not elaborate.

Published in The Express Tribune

Another man Abdul Wakeel shot dead in Nagaral, Gilgit city by unknown gunmen today. Abdul Wakeel was resident of Chilas. He was coming to Gilgit in Astori passenger van.

Another man,   Hamid Hussain,  a cap driver,  resident of   Nagaral was injured in a another firing incident near Ehsan Ali road, Kashrote.

Rizwan, a young boy who was wounded by unknown gunmen three days ago succumbed to injuries and died in hospital on Saturday.

News Source Sada-e-Gilgit

At least two girls schools were partially damaged after two low-intensity explosive devices went off early on Wednesday in Chilas, about 130 kilometres from Gilgit.

“The blasts occurred at around 2:30 am but the damage to the school buildings is minor,” said Ali Sher, a senior police official at Chilas, headquarters of the Diamer district where the 4,500 MWs Diamer-Bhasha Dam is under construction.

The police official said no loss of life was reported during the explosions. Locals blame ‘anti-dam elements’ for the blasts which could jeopardise foreign funding for the project.

“We will not let such elements succeed in their nefarious designs,” said Salahuddin, a resident of Chilas.

Police said that eight suspects have been taken into custody for interrogation. “Improvised explosive devices were used for the explosion,” revealed Sher.

The ‘targeted schools’ consisted of a single room each with no boundary walls, said Asadullah, another resident of Chilas, adding that all the schools in the valley had been closed due to winter vacations.

Early this year, unidentified assailants had blown up two girls schools and partially damaged the boundary wall of a mosque in town. Clerics had unanimously condemned the act and called for unmasking the ‘hidden hand’ behind such attacks. However, no inquiry report was made public.

The Diamer valley has assumed a pivotal position for the country due to the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project which could generate up to 4,500 MWs of power by 2020. The dam is being built on the River Indus, about 300 km upstream of Tarbela Dam and about 40 km downstream of Chilas. According to experts, the dam is expected to be completed in eight years and will cost over $12 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune by Shabbir Mir

In the freezing cold, thousands of people in the Ghizer valley took to the streets and blocked roads to protest against loadshedding that has practically brought life to a standstill across Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

In Chilas, Diamer district, where the Diamer-Bhasha Dam is under construction, people suffered a blackout after the power and water department suspended electricity to consumers to protest against an official’s maltreatment by the police.

Residents of Ishkoman, Yasin, Phunder, Gitch and Goharabad were provoked by prolonged power cuts since electricity is the only facility available for residents in the valley where temperature plummeted to -12 degrees Celsius this week. “We have no water, no heating arrangement in this freezing cold. The four to six hours of electricity that we get has also been suspended,” said a trader, Nassem. The power cut had left thousands of people in the dark.

Police had booked more than 40 people for damaging public property in Ghizer valley as protests continued throughout the week.

In Gilgit, the duration of loadshedding has exceeded 15 hours a day while the mercury continues to drop. The situation is worse in Skardu, Astore, and Hunza-Nagar.

Official sources said G-B is currently experiencing 132 megawatts (MW) power shortfall while the government is unable to provide electricity to at least 15 per cent of the population of the region so far. It is generally believed that the shortfall increases considerably in winters when consumption increases while production declines. However official sources said the shortfall experienced in Gilgit is about 23 MW while it is about 25 per cent in Skardu, the second major city of G-B.

According to official statistics, the total strength of consumers in all the seven districts of G-B is more than 150,77, while approximately 400 connections are daily issued to new consumers.

G-B Minister for Water and Power, Wazir Shakil, said on Sunday that about 120MW of electricity would be generated by 2015 in G-B, a region that is believed to have the capacity to produce more than 50,000 MW. “Hectic efforts are under way to streamline matters pertaining to water and power,” he said, adding that the government was faced with financial issues.

Published in The Express Tribune

Source(Express Tribune) People travelling from Rawalpindi to Gilgit via the Karakoram Highway (KKH) have complained that hotels on the 600 kilometre-long journey provide substandard services.

Tourists, both foreign and domestic, complained that hotels established along the route to Gilgit in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Bisham, Chilas and Jogulote provide substandard food and lodging at exorbitant rates, and remain unchecked by the relevant authorities. They also complained that the transporters have partnered with specific hotels and refuse to stop at hotels of the passengers’ preference for lodging or food.

Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) is known all over the world for its breathtaking beauty and unique topography and attracts a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, particularly during the summer.

“This could be one of the most fantastic journeys in the world if the government arranges better hotels along the route,” said Amin Khalid, a tourist from Lahore who recently visited Gilgit with his family. He blamed the government for failing to make arrangements to facilitate tourists or even general travellers.

Akhlaq Ahmed, another tourist from Multan said, “First they provide us with food that is substandard and unhygienic, and then they charge us such high rates, it’s ridiculous!” He said there are no proper toilets in these hotels, which is a problem for passengers, particularly those travelling with their families.

He said that the airfare charged by Pakistan International Airlines for Gilgit is substantial, and that, coupled with the unavailability of flights due to bad weather conditions during the summers, causes more people to resort to travelling by bus.

Talking to the The Express Tribune, Northern Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO) Managing Director Zafar Iqbal said that, “The absence of proper hotels for tourists on the KKH is a big issue.”

He said that a lot needs to be done to facilitate passengers, who have to travel for more than 20 hours to reach Gilgit and Skardu from Rawalpindi. He said that NATCO is collaborating with some private parties to set up better hotels along the route in the near future.

Over 10,000 people, gathered in Chilas on Sunday, demanded the arrest of the perpetrators behind a series of bombings that damaged two girls’ schools and a jamaat khana in the town on Saturday night. Many in the area, including Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) opposition leader Bashir Ahmad Khan, hold the view that the bombings were aimed at sabotaging development mega-projects such as the Diamer-Bhasha dam.