Wapda under fire for trillion-rupee disputes, project failures

Senators on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) prolonged legal battles, land disputes worth trillions of rupees, and the indefinite closure of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, valued at over Rs500 billion. The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources, chaired by Senator Shahadat Awan, reviewed the compliance reports on audit paras concerning Wapda. The committee expressed serious concerns over the decades-long unresolved legal cases, disputes related to land worth trillions, and the stalled Neelum-Jhelum project. Senator Awan, while opening the proceedings, pointed out from the record that some of the Wapda cases had been pending for 21 years, and the organisation had not paid attention to these cases for the last sixteen years. He informed the committee colleagues that Wapda was occupying land valued at Rs10bn, while cases exceeding Rs298.48bn were pending in courts, primarily concerning Mangla Dam lands.