Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that a WB delegation led by Don Black would discuss water sector projects with the Pakistani authorities in a meeting on Tuesday. The other members of delegation are Usman Qamar and Pervez Amin.
The sources said that the meeting would be held in the ministry and secretary water and power Ashfaq Mehmood would brief the delegation about the ongoing and the proposed water projects.
According to the sources, the agenda of the meeting is "The bank assistance for water projects."
Irsa chief, Wapda member (Water), Flood commissioner and other high officials of the relevant bodies will also attend the meeting.
The government, which is facing a tough opposition from Sindh and the NWFP on the construction of Kalabagh dam, would not be able to present its case in an impressive manner.
Following low level of water in Tarbela and Mangla this year, the central government is eager to start construction of Kalabagh dam, which is believed to be the only viable option to have additional water storage capacity.
According to the sources, the situation has created a lot of trouble for the ministry of water and power in finalising the 2005-09 water plan.
The WB delegation is also expected to visit the four provinces and know exactly about the small water projects proposed by the provincial governments. The Bank would see the possibility of providing direct financial assistance or soft loan for these projects.
The WB will take a decision to finalise the amount for the water projects after complete assessment of the situation, said the sources, adding that the WB has certain reservations on the execution of the water projects.
The government, according to the sources, would try its level best to persuade the Bank on providing loan with low interest rate.
The government is yet to take final decision about the ratio of interest rate that is to be applied on the Bank's possible loans and will spell out its conditions after initial demand of interest from the Bank.