NAB initiates inquiry in Thar water project irregularities

KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated inquiry into irregularities in Thar-Coal water project, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court had directed the accountability watchdog last year to investigate the corruption charges in the project.

The NAB Karachi in a letter to the Secretary Sindh Irrigation Department has demanded record of the project.

The NAB has asked about the record of the spending on the project and the authority that passed the bill. “All details of the amount and the names of the officers who had passed bills should be provided,” NAB letter read.

The details of amount spent over the project in Year 2016-17 should be provided to NAB, the accountability bureau demanded.

“The irrigation department has yet to provide the record,” NAB officials said.

The Supreme Court had remarked that the report of the AGP shows that the funds of Thar project were not invested in a transparent manner, RO plants were not set up as per the requirement. Solar generation plants were also not installed for water filtration plants in the area.

The top court had remarked that people of Thar are deprived of basic facilities including clean drinking water, but the Sindh government has shown no interest into the matter.

The government has failed to take any action in line with the report of the auditor general.

The top court while ordering the NAB to investigate the matter had also directed it to submit its initial report within three months.