Pakistan Collected $40 Million For Dam, Spent $63 Million On Its Ad: Report

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Indus River is set to be one of the biggest in Pakistan and intends to solve the flooding problem.

Pakistan recently experienced one of its worst floods, which submerged swathes of the country. Though many climate experts have blamed human-caused climate change for the deluge, fingers are being pointed towards the country's overwhelmed dams. According to a report in Vice News, the proposed Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Indus River is caught in a scandal. The "mega dam" is supposed to solve many problems for the country, including flooding, a government report has highlighted major flaws in the entire plan. A report by Pakistan's Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC) said that $40 million was raised from the public for the construction of the dam, but $63 million was spent on advertising it, and it's nowhere close to completion.

The dam was originally meant to be completed in the 1980s, but factors like environmental impact and escalating cost kept delaying the project. Then, in 2018, former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar set up a fund for the construction of dam - the cost had escalated to $14 billion by then.

Mr Nisar set up the fund to take donation from people of Pakistan, claiming that they would provide the billions needed for the dam's construction, said the Vice News report.

The contributions started pouring in not just from public but country's cricket team and top musicians. The army and several government employees gave up a portion of their salaries to provide $1 billion, said the outlet.

Imran Khan, who was Pakistan's Prime Minister then, assumed joint leadership of the fund.

When Mr Nisar retired in 2019, there was a shortfall of $6.3 billion, said Vice News. But his fresh comment shocked the people of the country. The now-retired chief justice of Pakistan said the fund was never meant for actually building the dam, but to raise awareness.

The allegations of corruption soon surfaced and many influential Pakistanis started speaking against the "joint venture". A member of Pakistan National Assembly, Ahsan Iqbal, claimed that more amount had been spent on advertising for the dam fund than was raised for it.

The PAC last month summoned Mr Nisar to provide explanation regarding the dam fund that was established during his time. The Diamer-Bhasha Dam, when constructed, will have a height of 272 metres. According to officials, it will have a power generation capacity of 4,500 megawatts.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pakistan-collected-40-million-for-dam-spent-63-million-on-its-ad-report-3349676