Re: Water for Punjab, Sindh slashed
‘WAPDA to be run like private company’](http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\06\22\story_22-6-2006_pg7_27)
ISLAMABAD: The government has completed 95 percent of the restructuring of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Minister for Water and Power Liaqat Ali Jatoi told a press conference on Wednesday.
Once the restructuring is complete, in about three months, WAPDA will be run like a private company, the minister said. He said that Mangla and Tarbela dams had 3.06 million acre feet (MAF) of water and so there would be no major shortage of water for the provinces in the current Kharif season.
Jatoi said that water flow into Tarbela has increased and the situation is getting better as temperatures in Skardu and catchment places in the Northern Areas are rising. Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Chairman Shafqat Masood said that water flow into Tarbela had increased to 7,000 cusecs on Tuesday, and if temperatures kept rising, water availability would improve further.
In a briefing on the performance of his ministry over the last year, Jatoi said WAPDA had given a record 15.82 million electricity connections in the period. Around 12,000 connections were for tube wells and around 11,000 villages had been electrified. By the end of 2007, 15,000 villages will have been electrified, the minister said.
He said that a 609-km transmission line would be laid between Dadu (Sindh) and Khuzdar (Balochistan) in the next two years to provide electricity to Balochistan province, he said.
He revealed that the ministry and WAPDA had initiated disciplinary action against 5,333 employees. The government earned Rs 700 million through ventures of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK), a subsidiary organisation of the ministry. Jatoi noted that the National Power Construction Company (NPCC) had won a significant contract for a $90 million project in Saudi Arabia.
The minister said that independent power producers (IPPs) had been instructed not to shut down their plants for repair work. The government, he said, would resolve the problem of a shortage of spare parts for the IPP plants.
He said the new management of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) had a target of producing 250 MW of electricity by May next year, and another 550 MW by the end of 2008. He said the government was fulfilling more than 70 percent of KESC requirements. Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mehmood also attended the press conference.
Restructuring of Wapda soon, says Jatoi](http://www.dawn.com/2006/06/22/top12.htm)
ISLAMABAD, June 21: Restructuring of Wapda will be completed in two to three months by giving financial independence to its distribution and generation companies, says Water and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi.
He was talking to journalists ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
He had earlier announced a deadline of December 2004 to complete the restructuring process.
The prime minister later directed the minister to coordinate with provinces for better water management to cope with its shortage and save Kharif crops.
Mr Jatoi said that line losses had reduced to 21.7 per cent in 2005-06 from 23.2 per cent in 2004-05. One per cent line losses means a loss of Rs2.4 billion to Wapda, as such the utility is still losing Rs52 billion per annum.
He said the new administration of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation had assured the federal government that it would expand its power generation system and would be generating 800MW additional electricity by 2010. He said Wapda had increased its supply to KESC by 73 per cent during the current season.
The minister said that the Dadu-Khuzdar transmission line involving Rs3 billion would be in place by 2008 as an alternative to ensure uninterrupted power supply to Balochistan. The minister said that water situation in Indus River had improved because of surge in mercury up to 30 Centigrade in the catchment area.