Pakistan fails to attend international conference on large dams

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 5 (ANI): Pakistan missed the week-long important conference of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) held in Marseille, France, which is the world's leading professional organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of dam engineering.
Not a single official from the Ministry of Water Resources and its attached departments had attended the 27th Congress of the ICOLD which started from May 27 to June 3 with a participation of over 1400 experts from across the world, Voice of Vienna reported citing sources privy to the departments, Voice of Vienna reported.
"Former Pakistan Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Lieutenant General (Retired) Muzammil Hussain has participated in a personal capacity on a special invite in recognition of his work on 10 mega water projects in the country," said sources.
The sources said the recommendation of the ICLOD often plays an important role in ensuring the foreign financing for the construction of large dam projects across the globe.
The Pakistani Ministry of Water Resources and Prime Minister (PM) Office said that they made special arrangements for Pakistani delegations but the seats for the Pakistani delegations remained vacant throughout the conference, according to Voice of Vienna citing sources.
The official said that the acting Chairman WAPDA Naveed Asghar Chaudhary along with some WAPDA officials was expected to attend the conference. But they could not participate in the event due to the absence of approval from the Prime Minister, said sources.
ICOLD is an organization dedicated to the sharing of professional information, knowledge, and standards of the design, construction, maintenance, and impact of large dams. With a present total of 104 member countries, ICOLD leads the profession in ensuring that dams are built and operated safely, efficiently, economically, and with a minimum environmental impact.
ICOLD leads the profession in setting standards and guidelines to ensure that dams are built and operated safely, efficiently, economically, environmentally sustainable, and socially equitable. ICOLD technical guidelines on all aspects of dam design and safety are based on state-of-the-art knowledge and our Projects are being designed and constructed by following the ICOLD guidelines and standards, reported Voice of Vienna. (ANI)