Islamabad: The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has informed the National Assembly that it plans to establish a dedicated security force to protect its critical infrastructure and development projects, with the authority to create the force resting with the federal government.
The proposal was discussed during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Water Resources, where WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Muhammad Saeed said that conventional security guards were no longer sufficient to safeguard WAPDA’s offices and strategically important projects.
“We want to establish our own security management system,” the chairman told the committee, adding that the existing security arrangements were proving to be costly and inadequate for the authority’s expanding operational requirements.
Under the proposed legislation, the Director General (DG) of the WAPDA Security Force will be a retired Grade-20 officer from either the Pakistan Army or the police service. However, the establishment of the force, along with its governing rules and regulations, will remain subject to approval by the federal government.
The proposed force will be deployed to secure WAPDA offices and key infrastructure projects across the country. Its personnel will have the authority to detain individuals within WAPDA premises and project sites, after which suspects will be handed over to the district police for further legal proceedings. Any criminal cases arising from such arrests will be investigated and prosecuted by the local police.
Chairman Saeed said the force would consist of professionally trained personnel in a designated uniform and would be recruited on a contractual basis without pension benefits. He added that WAPDA may also hire trained personnel from private security companies to strengthen the force.
Highlighting the scale of security requirements, he informed lawmakers that approximately 2,500 personnel are currently deployed to protect the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project alone.
During the briefing, WAPDA officials said the authority’s traditional watchman-based security system was no longer adequate, particularly as major infrastructure projects regularly receive visits from international delegations whose security must be ensured.
