Many serious revelations have been made in the government investigation on the cofferdam accident in Pakistan’s 1,530 MW capacity Tarbela-5 Extension Hydro Power Project. The investigation committee has held the contractor, consultant and Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority responsible for this accident. According to the report, after the contract was signed, changes were made in the design of the cofferdam without approval, due to which its structure became weak and ultimately it collapsed. Due to this incident, the cost of the project has increased from Rs 82 billion (PKR) to Rs 317 billion (PKR) and the work has been delayed by at least two years. The Planning Commission of Pakistan says that due to increase in cost, the price of electricity generated from this project may also increase significantly, due to which questions have been raised on its economic feasibility.
Responsibility fixed on all three parties in government investigation
According to the report of Pakistan’s leading news website Dawn, the three-member investigation committee formed by the Government of Pakistan said in its report that the incident of collapse of cofferdam in Tarbela-5 Extension Hydro Power Project was not the fault of any one party. According to the report, the contractor, consultant and Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) all three did not follow the rules at their respective levels. The investigation committee said that changes were made in the design of the cofferdam after the contract, although this was not permitted. Despite this, the design was approved and even as construction approached completion, no one questioned its validity and technical flaws.
The structure became weak due to change in design
According to the investigation report, the contractor Power Construction Corporation of China Limited had proposed changes in the design of the cofferdam. Under this, instead of the earlier design, a structure filled with stones was used in the entire project. The investigation committee says that this option proved to be weaker than the previous one. The report also said that WAPDA approved this change without checking whether it was in accordance with the contract rules.
Flood was cited as the reason, but investigation revealed the truth
WAPDA had attributed the collapse of the cofferdam to flood. However, the investigation committee did not accept this claim as true. The report said that at the time the incident occurred, the water flow was normal as per the old records of Tarbela Dam and it was less than the design capacity of the cofferdam. According to the committee, this accident occurred due to lack of adequate safety layer and filter system in the structure. That means the problem was not natural but related to construction and design.
Cost increased from 82 billion to 317 billion
Tarbela-5 Extension Project was approved in the year 2017 at a cost of about 82.36 billion Pakistani rupees. But after the collapse of the cofferdam, the work stopped and the cost kept increasing. Now it has increased to 317 billion Pakistani rupees. According to the Planning Commission of Pakistan, due to this, the cost of electricity generated from this project may reach around 27 to 28 Pakistani rupees per unit in the next 30 years. In the report, it has been described as one of the most expensive renewable energy projects in the country.
Project running with foreign loan, two years delay in completion
This project is being built with the help of a loan of about $700 million from the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Earlier the target was to complete it by the year 2026, but now it is being said that it will be completed by June 2028. According to the investigation report, work was halted for a long time after the cofferdam collapse, leading to a huge increase in both cost and time.
Questions also raised on payment and monitoring
The inquiry committee has also raised serious questions on the monitoring and payment process of the project. According to the report, WAPDA had asked for a report on the condition of the cofferdam from the consultant in the year 2023, but instead of doing the investigation itself, the consultant handed over this responsibility to the contractor. The contractor also submitted the report after a delay of more than a year. The investigation also revealed that such payments were made for temporary work, which made it difficult for the government to recover losses from the contractor. Later WAPDA also terminated the contract of the consultancy company.
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