The World Bank had rejected construction of the Akhori dam due to foundation problems. Interim report of the Parliamentary Committee on Water Resources said after site inspection that the WB had rejected Akhori dam for a height of 250 ft in its report in 1968.

The report said Engineer Fateh Ullah Khan referred to 1968 report of Dr Lieftnick, head of the WB team that visited the site and indicated serious foundation problems at the sites of Akhori and Sanjwal dams.

"How Akhori site is acceptable with a dam height of 420 ft, while it was rejected by the WB for a height of 250 ft? How the proposed 420 ft high dam will withstand the unsafe foundation conditions?" the committee enquired from the Wapda. The Wapda informed that sites identified by the WB's Dr Lieftnick in the report were tentative and different from the location now identified.

Meanwhile, the Wapda itself discarded a downstream site Gariala due to serious foundation problems, the report added.

Copyright Pakistan Press International, 2005