Tarbela T-5 project work suspended indefinitely after protective bund breach
All workers safely evacuated after water flooded Tunnel Five, DC Haripur orders inquiry
A protective bund at the Tarbela Dam's T-5 hydropower project suffered a breach on Monday, causing a significant amount of water to inundate Tunnel Five, according to officials. This incident led to the indefinite suspension of construction work on the project. Haripur Deputy Commissioner Waseem Ahmed confirmed that the protective bund had given way, resulting in water entering the tunnel.
He reported that all Pakistani and foreign workers were safely evacuated by the administration and rescue agencies following the breach. Although one Pakistani worker was swept away by the rising water, emergency teams were able to rescue him without any reported casualties.
The T-5 project, part of the Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project, aimed to increase the dam's installed generation capacity by adding 1,530 megawatts through three 510-megawatt units. The project, awarded a $354.6 million contract to China's Power Construction Corporation of China Limited in May 2021, had an approved cost of $807 million, with financial support from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Completion of the project was initially expected by September 2027, but repeated delays have pushed this deadline to the current date, September 2025.
Following the breach, a high-level inquiry will be conducted to investigate the cause of the protective bund failure, whether it resulted from structural weaknesses or technical faults. The investigation's findings will determine the next steps in addressing the issue.
Written by urgent.news from The Express Tribune - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
