Special Secretary Irrigation Sindh Aslam Ansari while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Reform which met with Agha Shahzaib Durrani in the chair has said that the main reason for cost escalation is the unilateral changes in the design of Nai Gaj Dam initiated by the Federal Government.
The original PC-1 cost of Nai Gaj Dam project was Rs 16.924 billion which was later revised to Rs 26.236 billion and was approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) with reduced scope of work by deleting the essential components i.e. power house, access roads, pipeline to Manchar Lack and project colony.
However, the PC-1 was revised again and submitted by Wapda and MoWR with estimated cost of Rs 46.98 billion and it included additional components like power house, project colony, access roads, actual cost of spillways and pipeline to Manchar Lake. The project was recommended by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and discussed by the ECNEC; however, it was deferred due to cost sharing by the government of Sindh.
The special secretary Sindh informed the committee that the federal government had the responsibility to provide complete funding for the project, while the province had the responsibility of land procurement, settlement and security issues. He further said that the Wapda took unilateral decision of changing the project design while the federal government deferred its financing which led to cost escalation.
