Reasons for delay in selected hydro-power projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan

This paper aims at exploring reasons for delays in Hydro-Power projects completed in last 5 years in Pakistan. Hydro power projects at Allai Khwar, Duber Khwar and Khan Khwar, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan were initiated by Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in 2003 and completed with an average time over-run of 200% and incurred 2.5 times more cost than originally estimated. Study of project documents, interviews from experts highlighted the critical reasons for these costly delays. These reasons were rated and ranked by all three parties of hydro power projects i.e. Client, consultant and contractor on Relative Frequency Index, Relative Severity Index and Independent Relative Importance Index through questionnaire survey. Most of the respondents agreed that “lack of political will, delay in civil work, delays in release of funds by the Government, bad Law and order situation, project start without proper site investigation and poor project time management are the leading reasons behind delays of these Hydro Power projects. These results would be helpful for policy makers and implementing agencies in better planning and mitigating the delay effects in future projects.