By Malik Tahseen Raza

MUZAFFARGARH, Jan 25: An inquiry committee constituted by Punjab government to fix the responsibility for the Taunsa Barrage breach has visited the site, while a World Bank team has also collected the relevant data on Jan 24.

The Punjab government committee, comprising chief engineers of Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan, will, however, determine that who is responsible for the breach—-irrigation department or the construction companies.

Talking to Dawn, Taunsa Barrage Rehabilitation and Remodelling Project Manager Chaudhry Akhtar said on Thursday that according to the agreement, irrigation department would not pay any amount to the construction companies for the loss incurred because of the breach. So if there was any loss, it was the fault of construction companies and they would have to bear it, he said categorically.

Work on the Taunsa Barrage Remodelling Project was disrupted on Jan 15 when a 90-foot breach developed in an embankment, and the water also swept away another embankment, besides the construction machinery owned by the companies. The loss of machinery was estimated at Rs60 million.

The construction companies working on the project had erected two temporary embankments on the north-east side of the barrage to stop the water flow.

Mr Akhtar said in the beginning it was feared that the breach would cause a delay in the work, but the construction companies had worked speedily and now the project would be completed within the given time.

He said the full water supply would be released in the DG Khan Canal from March 15, while a partial supply would be released from Jan 29 for drinking purpose. People in Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan use the canal water for drinking and other domestic purposes.

About Muzaffargarh Canal, he said earlier it was announced that water would be released in the channel on Feb 21, but because of the speedy work by the irrigation department now it would be running from March 2.

He said the construction companies were responsible for completing the barrage remodelling within the stipulated time and the allocated amount. The World Bank was funding the Rs11 billion project.

Mr Akhtar said a WB team also visited the barrage site on Jan 24 and collected the data to assess the damage caused by the breach to the barrage.

He said inquiry was a slow and lengthy process and would take weeks to complete.

The representative of Deskon, the major construction company involved in the barrage remodelling, Captain Humayun Sajid (retired), said the work on the project was in full swing. Denying newspaper reports, he said no other breach had occurred in the embankment. He said the inquiry committee would determine if the breach was caused because of using substandard material in the embankment or it was a fault of irrigation department.

The project was launched on May 10, 2005, and was to be completed in 36 months. However, the major work was planned to be completed in two years.

The project includes the repair of the barrage floor by removing weak concrete and replacing it with a new layer, besides grouting to seal joints and fill voids in the foundation.

The project will also ensure sediment mitigation measures for the DG Khan canal at the right bank by constructing a silt excluder and remodelling the head regulator. Under the project, a safety monitoring system will be installed by placing some devices in the barrage and at its foundation.

Reply to World Bank

Dear Mr. Li,

I must appreciate the World Bank's tactful manners of hiding critical information which enhances its public examination and accountability. For last six months, we have time and again asked both to the World Bank and the implementing agency to disclose the report of the Panel of Experts on Taunsa Barrage remodeling project. However, we were denied through implying variety of delaying tactics and offering inappropriate excuses. The result of this culture of secrecy and information closure is very obvious one: corruption and avoidance from public accountability.

I am sure you must be aware about the recent failure of coffer dams at Taunsa Barrage. I am afraid the information closure will be once again employed not only hiding the true causes of this failure but it will be also used to under-estimate the subsequent losses, especially of local communities.

The purpose of this email is to inquire what actions the World Bank has taken to ensure an independent and credible investigation of the causes and effects of the failure of coffer dams at Taunsa Barrage. So far as the government inquiry committee is concerned, it is mainly comprised of the irrigation officials who are directly or indirectly responsible for this failure. Even the term of references for the official inquiry are not disclosed.

Another important question concerns with the closure of canals. How will the breach affect the planned supplies to D. Khan Canal, Muzaffargarah Canal and T-P Link Canal? What is the new canal regulation plan?

I will appreciate your prompt response.

With regards,

Mushtaq Gadi
Chashma Lok Sath






Xli@... wrote:
Dear Mr. Gaadi,

I appreciate your patience. We are doing our best to assist the Government
implement the project in line with its objectives and while complying with our
policies. As you know we don't implement projects and we have to rely, on many
occasions, on the Government sovereign decisions. In this particular case the
irrigation department has the ownership of the POE report and we have been
acting as intermediary. To come to a closure on your request, it might be faster
to discuss this matter directly with the project management office (PMO) of the
irrigation department. the following are the telephone number and email address
of the PMO director, Mr. Akhter, in case you want to contact him for this
matter:

Telephone: 42.9211920; Email:

For your information, a webpage on Taunsa Barrage Rehabilitation Project is
available to the public at the following website. This is to help whoever is
interested in the Project, to better understand it.

http://www.worldbank.org.pk/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/PAKISTANEXTN/0,,contentMDK: 21144808~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:293052,00.html#question1

Regards,
Xiaokai Li