Neelum-Jhelum plant closure causes Rs33bn loss, NA told

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Water Resources informed the National Assembly (NA) on Friday that the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower plant has been shut down since May 1, 2024, due to collapse of both headrace tunnels.

The financial loss from non-generation of power is estimated to be approximately Rs33 billion to date, added the written reply, submitted during the Question Hour. MNA Dr Nafisa Shah had asked the reasons for non-functioning of Neelum-Jhelum plant and how much loss had occurred thereof.

The ministry’s reply stated that, the repair cost on the basis of preliminary inspection and assessment for constructing 2.5-km concrete lining in the collapsed locations and repair of other damaged areas was estimated at about Rs21.7 billion.

However, this cost may vary after the start of work depending upon the further technical investigations, recommendations of the independent panel of experts and of the project consultants.

Contract Agreement of NJ Project was based on International Federation of Consulting Engineers (commonly known as FIDIC) Conditions of Contract Fourth Edition 1987, reprinted 1988, with additional amendments.

The civil works were designed by project consultants, whereas Engineered Material Handling (EMH) works were designed by the EMH contractor, which was further reviewed by the project consultant. Both the contractors of Civil & EMH executed the works under supervision of project consultants. An inquiry committee was constituted by the prime minister of Pakistan on May 20, 2024 and subsequently another committee had been constituted on January 7, 2025 to probe the causes and fix the responsibility while the report of the committee is awaited. Further, the services of a consulting firm for investigating the matter has been engaged as per the instruction from Govt of Pakistan, which visited the project from February 1, 2025 to February 7, 2025.