Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued on Sunday the directives to complete the investigation report regarding the recent closure of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project and identify those responsible for the defects in the project and take strict action against them.

“How unfortunate that such a big and important project was neglected,” the prime minister said while presiding over a meeting to review the power project in Islamabad.

Officials said that there was a reduction in power generation because of the pressure drop in the right and left head race tunnels of the project on April 29, 2024. Power generation from the power plant was completely stopped on May 2.

Former federal interior secretary Shahid Khan, the head of the investigation committee investigating the recent faults in the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, presented a preliminary investigation report in the meeting.

He said the closure of the project was causing a loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer. The place where the current fault occurred was the rock burst zone.

During the PTI regime in the year 2021, due to an abnormal drop in pressure in the headrace tunnel, a significant decrease in power generation was seen from the project but this abnormal change in pressure was ignored and not reported. “The matter deliberately suppressed.”

No repair work was done regarding the project’s failure in 2021, which continued to increase the losses, the official claimed. “It was a criminal negligence.”

Defects in the project in 2021 are also being made part of the investigation report, the official said and added that power generation was suspended in 2022 due to a fault in the tailrace tunnel of the project.

Also, read this

Safety concerns force shutdown of Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project

PM Shehbaz wants action against DISCOs staff for billing extra units to consumers

Will quit, but won’t come under pressure: PM Shehbaz

Geophysical and seismic factors were also “ignored in the construction of the project and adequate concrete lining of head race tunnel was also not done.”

The premier questioned why had detailed geological survey had not been conducted regarding the project. “Criminal negligence was committed by not doing third-party validation of the project,” the prime minister added.

PM Shehbaz called for forming a committee on an urgent basis to reactivate the project.