NA panel defers WAPDA security bill again, orders K-IV delay probe

ISLAMABAD: A National Assembly committee deferred the WAPDA Security Force Bill, 2026 again on Tuesday and set up a four-member subcommittee to establish why the K-IV water supply scheme for Karachi has not been completed despite heavy spending. Business Recorder reported the bill was put off amid differences between the government and the Pakistan Peoples Party.

The Standing Committee on Water Resources, chaired by Ahmad Ateeq Anwar, met at Parliament House. Members were told the WAPDA Act, 1958 contains no statutory provisions on the creation, jurisdiction, powers or functions of a security setup. After discussion the committee deferred the bill to its next meeting.

The subcommittee, to be convened by Muhammad Idrees, will examine the non-completion of K-IV, which has remained pending for about two decades. The WAPDA chairman told the committee the revised PC-I puts the cost at Rs171 billion. The project director said the first phase, covering 64 kilometres, would be completed this year. Committee member Javed Hanif Khan said the scheme was still about 20 years behind and asked why authorities had not finished it despite the money spent.

The WAPDA chairman said construction alone would not make the project operational, because about 50 megawatts of electricity would be needed to run it. The additional secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources said federal funding for the project was a political decision.

On Balochistan, Mian Khan Bugti said the people of Dera Bugti had been assured water through the Kachhi Canal and called the canal the province's right. He alleged water was being drawn off in parts of Punjab, depriving Balochistan's intended beneficiaries. The WAPDA chairman replied that water is withdrawn from canals across the country and that provincial governments must devise effective strategies against it. The irrigation secretary said people making unauthorised withdrawals often go to court, and that the Kachhi Canal has not yet been formally handed to the Irrigation Department.

The committee asked whether the alleged theft had been reported to the relevant departments and what action followed, and directed that a detailed report be submitted within one week.

On storage, the WAPDA chairman said the World Bank recommended about 52 years ago that Pakistan add two million acre-feet of storage every ten years to keep pace with population growth. He said no new storage facility had been built in that period and capacity had fallen from about 23 million acre-feet to 13 million acre-feet.

The meeting was attended by Muhammad Idrees, Mian Khan Bugti, Mir Munawar Ali Talpur, Waseem Qadir, Saba Talpur, Zulfiqar Ali Behan, Syed Javed Ali Shah Jillani, Amin-ul-Haque, Federal Minister for Water Resources Mian Muhammad Mueen Wattoo and Rana Ansar, besides officials of the Ministry of Water Resources.