Telemetry 2.0: a watershed in era of climate calamities?

• Project’s revival follows ‘failure’ of Musharraf-era water flow measurement system
• New telemetry device installed at Kotri Canal; project to cover 27 sites nationwide
• Irsa testing accuracy of new system; Wapda once again at helm despite past controversies

A LONG, bright silver-coloured gun-like device, known as a water level sensor, has recently been installed on the left bank of the Kalri Baghar (KB) Feeder — a perennial right bank canal off-taking from the Kotri Barrage, the last barrage on the Indus River.

The installation is part of a telemetry system bei­ng deployed at 27 sites acr­o­ss the country, including major barrages and canals.

“The device records flows in the KB Feeder. It captures even minute volumes of water flowing thro­ugh the canal. These readings are then compared with the manual gauge data,” said Ali Uzair Shaikh, assistant exe­c­utive engineer at Kotri Barrage, while explaining the equipment’s function.

Two additional devices have been installed at Gates 5 and 6 of the KB Feeder to monitor gate openings. “The equipment will help us understand how the system will function at any barrage or canal in future once fully operational. Initially, the device was supposed to be installed at the main barrage, but due to low flows in the Indus during the early summer season, it was fitted to the KB Feeder instead, as it had somewhat measurable flows,” Mr Shaikh added, referring to the water shortages experienced at the site.

These installations are classified as “proof of concept” (PoC) within the telemetry project, serving as a demonstration model for engineers and barrage staff. Another PoC has been set up at Marala, on the Chenab River, a key rim station in the Indus Basin.

The revival of the telemetry system is crucial for the country, where disputes over water distribution between provinces, particularly Punjab and Sindh, have long undermined national cohesion and agricultural planning.

A reliable, real-time telemetry system can bring much-needed tra­n­s­parency to water flow. Besides, it can strengthen federal oversight and enable evidence-based policymaking at a time when climate change is causing more frequent and intense heatwaves, erratic rainfall, rapid glacial melting and devastating floods.

According to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa), the country’s federal water regulator, flow measurements are being conducted to verify whether existing rating tables correspond with the new telemetry data. Irsa Director Operations Khalid Idris Rana confirmed that the system’s accuracy is under assessment.

Chief Engineer Sajid Ali Bhutto, the focal person for the federally funded project from Sindh, said the PoC installation aims to evaluate both the operational reliability and calibration accuracy of newly deployed water level sensors, which have been mounted on the radial and vertical gate assemblies at the barrage sites.

A troubled past

This is not the country’s first attempt at modernising water flow measurement. A previous telemetry system, launched in the Musharraf era, was abandoned after years of malfunction. Now, a new Rs23.83 billion “Indus Telemetry Project” is being rolled out — again with the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) at the helm.

In 2000, then-chief executive Gen Musharraf initiated the first telemetry system to improve transparency in water sharing between provinces.

Wapda was tasked with execution, while the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak) served as project consultant, and Siemens as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. The system was completed on schedule in March 2004, but it quickly ran into trouble.

By 2003, Irsa reported significant variations in telemetry readings across several sites. Letters to authorities highlighted faulty data and technical discrepancies. Siemens eventually exited the project, and a subsequent evaluation in 2015 declared the system obsolete. The federal government formally scrapped it, calling it a “white elephant” that wasted public funds.

A 2016 plan to test a new system at seven pilot sites was eventually shelved. Irsa had been designated to take ownership, but that transition never occurred.

Blame game

In a written response to Dawn, Wapda spokesman Abid Rana insisted that the previous telemetry system had “operated successfully” for over a decade. He attributed the challenges to inadequate operations and maintenance (O&M) funding, lack of stakeholder ownership and insufficient institutional capacity on Irsa’s part.

“As a result, the project was not handed over to Irsa. Consequently, the telemetry system became non-functional, leading to its official decommissioning,” he conceded.

Irsa’s operations director, Khalid Idris Rana, disputes this, noting that most staff running the system were from Wapda itself.

“If the system was operational, why did the PM Inspection Commission recommend outsourcing it back to Wapda?” he asked, also pointing to mismatched data from key sites like Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma — the three sites under Wapda’s control to monitor the telemetry system back then.

No agency was held accountable, and the fate of the equipment remains unknown.

Back to square one

Now, nearly a decade and a half later, the situation has come full circle.

Wapda has once again been selected as the executing agency for the revamped telemetry project. The consultants also remain unchanged. The Ministry of Water Resources has justified Wapda’s selection based on its “extensive experience in water sector telemetry projects”.

According to Abid, “a flow measurement mission is currently underway with stakeholders to develop consensus on key parameters for discharge calculations.” He stressed that the new system features significant upgrades, as it uses advanced sensors, data loggers and communication systems.

The project was approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) of the federal Planning Ministry in February 2024. After a two-year Defect Liability Period, the system will be handed over to Irsa.

The revised project was approved for Rs23.8bn amid a “single bid” submission under the international competitive bidding (ICB) process. Wapda’s Abid Rana claimed that “multiple bidders participated” in the process, but only one firm submitted a final bid. He insisted that the contract award complied fully with Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules.

Unlike the previous system, which covered 23 sites, the new project extends to 27 locations and is scheduled for completion by 2026.

In 2018, the estimated cost of installing telemetry systems at seven sites was Rs2.4bn, or roughly Rs343 million per unit. Under the revised PC-I, that figure has ballooned to Rs23.834bn, translating to around Rs882 million per site, with the number of installations increased to 27.

Moreover, although the project is scheduled for completion by 2027 across the country, two of Sindh’s most crucial barrages — Guddu and Sukkur — have not yet been made available for system installation. Wapda’s Abid Rana explained that progress on Sindh’s barrages would be proportional to the handover of sites to contractors.

Meanwhile, the project’s Terms of Reference required study tours to countries with comparable river systems for Wapda and Irsa officials. These tours were meant to help understand successful international telemetry systems, but they have yet to materialise.

An official said that a tour to Germany and Italy is under consideration. “A visit will only be fruitful if the host country’s water system resembles the Indus Basin, with significant annual flows driven by glacial and snowmelt and a functioning telemetry system in place,” the official said. A query regarding the choice of destinations was sent to Wapda’s project director on June 26, but no response was received.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2025

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