Neelum-Jhelum project may be completed ahead of schedule
25 January, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has joined the high-tech club of countries in excavating miles-long tunnels with the arrival of two TBMs (tunnel-boring machines) from Germany that will expedite the excavation of 32- km-long water tunnel for 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, a senior Wapda official told our sources. The Paimpol vessel carrying two TBMs valuing $92.3m from China arrived on Monday (Jan 23) on Berth-IV at the Karachi Port at 4 pm. Now the authorities, he said, that are directly involved in constructing the hydropower project in the AJK are confident that Pakistan would complete the project earlier than the Kishenganga project being constructed by India on the same river in held Kashmir. With the arrival of TBMs, the project will now be constructed and commissioned in 2016, two years ahead of schedule. This will not only grab the water priority rights on the Neelum River, but will also help Pakistan in its legal battle in the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague against India on Kishenganga Hydropower project, whose design negates the provisions of Indus Water Treaty. When contacted, Lt General (retd) Mohammad Zubair, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Company confirmed that the two TBMs have arrived at the Karachi Port, which have been loaded for onward shipping to the site of the project. He hoped the machines would arrive at the site by February 29. He said round the clock construction work would ensure the commissioning of the project by June-July 2016. The TBMs will be a strategic asset of Wapda, which will be used in other projects too. But sources said that ensuring the arrival of TBMs at the project site by February 29 is an uphill task given the current security situation. "We fear that TBMs movement might be considered by the masses as part of Nato supply movement. So we will have to ensure foolproof security of TBMs," said one source. To a question he said the construction work is going on round-the-clock to build the coffer dam at Noseri which would be completed next week, much before February 28 when water flow in the Neelum river would increase massively. The Neelum River has already been diverted through 500-metre-long tunnel which shows that serious construction activities have started on the dam portion of the project. "We will also install 45 MW powerhouse on the tunnel," he said adding the powerhouse would be completed in time. End.
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