ISLAMABAD: The government has shelved the inauguration ceremony of the much-awaited Mohmand dam project, which was scheduled for Jan 2.

A Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) spokesman confir­med that the inauguration of the dam project — which was to be conducted by Prime Minister Imran Khan along with Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar as chief guests — had been postp­oned.

“The ceremony has been postpo­ned and no new date has yet to be finalised,” the spokesman told Dawn on Saturday. However, spokesman for the prime minister Iftikhar Durrani was unaware about the postponement of the inauguration ceremony. “I am away from Islamabad and I don’t know about it,” he said when contacted.

The construction of the Rs309 billion Mohmand dam is said to be imperative to resolve the problems of water scarcity and electricity shortfall in the country. A sum of Rs2bn has been allocated for the project in the Public Sector Development Programme 2018-19.

The Supreme Court, while issuing a detailed verdict in the case pertaining to the acute water scarcity in Pakistan, highlighted that “the need for water reservoirs is not only expedient but also sine qua non (an essential condition) for the survival of the people and economy of Pakistan”.

It has been learnt that the inauguration ceremony of Mohmand dam was shelved due to controversies that surfaced on the issue of the award of the contract of the hydropower project.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2018