Wapda says Tarbela Dam safe after rock collapse at extension site
Chairman retired Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed inspected the intake, tunnel and powerhouse over two days and ordered a departmental inquiry into Monday's collapse.
A rock mass collapsed at the under-construction Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project on Monday, sending a surge of water into nearby work areas. Wapda declared an emergency at the site, suspended construction and moved workers to safer locations. No loss of life was reported.
On Tuesday the Water and Power Development Authority said the main Tarbela Dam and its critical structures faced no threat. The assessment was unanimous among the project's consultants, the contractor and Wapda's own project management team, according to a statement issued after Chairman retired Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed toured the site.
Saeed visited Tarbela on 9 and 10 November, ARY News reported, inspecting the intake structure, the tunnel, the powerhouse and other installations. Member (Water) Asim Rauf Khan, other senior Wapda officers, the contractor and the consultants were present. The chairman later chaired a meeting at the project office where possible causes of the incident were discussed, immediate response measures were finalised and short, medium and long term preventive steps were considered.
Saeed directed the consultants to submit a detailed report covering all aspects of the incident and ordered a departmental inquiry. He instructed the consultants, the contractor and the Wapda project team to carry out remedial measures immediately and to finalise a contingency plan to limit the delay to the project's overall completion.
The Ministry of Water Resources had sought an initial assessment report, which Wapda submitted on Tuesday. Minister for Water Resources Mian Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, who had been following the incident, was briefed in person by the chairman.
The 1,530 MW project is being built on Tunnel No 5 of Tarbela Dam with financial assistance from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Swabi Deputy Commissioner Nasarullah Khan said the situation was under control and there was no cause for public concern, Minute Mirror reported. He said he was coordinating with the Haripur deputy commissioner and other officials, and that the increased flow of water in the Indus downstream had been authorised by Wapda's technical team as part of safety and technical arrangements.
An official at the project site asked the public to avoid circulating unverified information and to rely on official sources. Minute Mirror reported that engineers and technical teams were working to repair damaged sections and restore affected facilities.
How the reports differ
Dawn led with Wapda's statement that the dam was safe and set out Monday's sequence of the collapse, the emergency declaration and the suspension of work. APP, filing on Tuesday morning, led instead with the chairman's visit that day, described as a review of progress and of the investigation into the collapse. ARY News called the event a "tunnel incident" and a "raised intake incident" rather than a rock collapse, dated the visit to 9-10 November, and carried the project's 1,530 MW capacity and its World Bank and AIIB financing. Minute Mirror alone quoted Swabi Deputy Commissioner Nasarullah Khan and his clarification that the higher Indus flow downstream was authorised by Wapda's technical team.
Watch
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