National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to investigate increase in cost of Kachhi Canal project from Rs30billion to Rs210 billion.
Chairman NAB, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, has taken notice and ordered an enquiry against the officers of Punjab Information and Culture Department for allegedly misusing their authority and causing a loss to the national exchequer.
Kachhi Canal is a 363 kilometre-long waterway which takes off from Taunsa Barrage in Muzaffargarh district of Punjab and ends in Dera Bugti district of Balochistan.
Kachhi Canal project was started during the tenure of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in 2002 and is said to help irrigate 72,000 acres of land.
Kachhi Canal project was inaugurated in September 2017, with authorities promising it would change the lives of the people of Balochistan.
Although NAB notification has stated the cost to be Rs30 billion, earlier reports have shown the estimate escalated to around Rs80 billion due to several issues.
