Flooding Hits Tarbela 5th Extension Project; Inquiry Ordered

Federal Minister for Water Resources Mian Muhammad Moeen Wattoo on Monday paid an emergency visit to the under-construction 1,530-megawatt Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project after a cofferdam breach caused flooding at the site.

The minister inspected the Tunnel-5 powerhouse and surrounding areas before chairing a meeting at Tarbela Guest House-1, officials said. He directed the project administration to furnish a detailed report on the incident, with responsibility for the breach to be fixed.

The flooding occurred after a failure of the cofferdam — a temporary protective structure — allowed water to enter the powerhouse and construction site.

Later in the evening, Mr Wattoo chaired a meeting attended by Member Water Syed Akhtar Shah, Project Director Umair Manan, General Manager Tarbela Dam Anwar Shah, senior officials of the Pak-China joint venture and project consultants. The minister was briefed on the cofferdam failure and its impact on construction activities.

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He noted that the incident had disrupted progress on the under-construction powerhouse and emphasised the need for timely determination of responsibility. Local sources said the inquiry would establish whether the lapse lay with the construction company, the consultants, or the Tarbela 5 engineering team. They added that consultants and engineering staff appeared helpless before the foreign contractor, raising concerns about oversight.

In April, a World Bank delegation led by South Asia Regional Director for Infrastructure Pankaj Gupta had reviewed progress on the project. The bank is providing $390 million in financial assistance for the 5th extension, which envisages the installation of three generating units of 510MW each at Tunnel No-5. Once complete, the project is expected to add 1.347 billion units of hydel power annually, raising Tarbela’s total installed capacity to 6,418MW.