Neelum Jhelum project: China to provide $448m for stepping up work

[Devil Soul]

LAHORE: Exim Bank of China will provide Pakistan $448 million for the strategically important 969-megawatt Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project and an agreement in this connection has been signed between the two sides.
“This agreement is a significant development in efforts to secure financial resources for (completing) the remaining work on under-construction Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project,” said a press release issued by the Water and Power Development Authority here on Tuesday.
The Neelum Jhelum project, being constructed on the Neelum River in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, will not only produce low-cost hydroelectric power to ease electricity shortages in the country, but will also establish priority rights over water. India is also constructing a dam upstream of Neelum Jhelum project to complete it first and win rights over water.
Wapda said that in view of the project’s significance, it was making all possible efforts to remain within the timeframe and complete the project by 2016.
At present, according to Wapda, construction work on all sites is going on satisfactorily. Of the tunnels stretching over 67 km, 34.24 km (51%) have so far been dug, while excavation of an underground power house stands at 75.24% and transformers hall at 96.33%.
Work on Nauseri Bridge over Neelum River has been completed and second-stage diversion of the river has also been given final touches.
After coming on stream, the hydropower project will contribute 5.15 billion units of cheap electricity every year. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at about Rs45 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2013.
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[Leader]

BC 97 say ab tak bijli kay bills mein Neelum Jhehlum tax day rahi hai sari awam, or yeh tunnel hai kay banti hi nahi...

 

[UmarJustice]

Pakistan needs every single watt it can get at the moment.

The summer time is when the public suffers the most.

 

[Albatross]

With the pace of work I am sure pakistan would be able to finish it by 2016 but uptill now we have been working on it at our own , China had been promising money for quite some time first time this news surfaced in 2009 but nothing materialized , I hope this time things will work out and in any case even excluding China we should complete it earlier than indians to claim water rights..

 

[bc040400065]

This shows our governments priorities, They would invest public money on non profitable project such as laptop sasti roti and solar panel and underpasses metros etc, but they wont provide the necessary monetary support needed for important projects like these, who not only are economically a must for our nation but also relates to water rights for the rest of universe life time.