Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities concerned to fix the responsibility without any delay on those involved in deterioration of Neelum Jehlum Hydropower Project to set a yardstick for future.

Addressing a ceremony on the site of Neelum Jehlum Hydropower Project in Muzaffarabad today (Thursday), he expressed dismay over the emergence of fault in the project for second time.

Alluding to the findings of IPO, he said multiple factors are involved in the destruction of the project including designing faults and construction mistakes. He expressed concerns that there was no third party validation of this mega project.

Shehbaz Sharif said the government experienced a fair amount resistance in the process of the appointment of IPOs to highlight the drawbacks of the projects.

The Prime Minister said that an amount of five billion dollars was invested in the project exclusively for public interest and no negligence will be tolerated in functioning of this mega project.

He ordered to expose elements involved in creating faults in the project and submit final report within a month. He also announced to constitute a committee to probe into the issue.

Shehbaz Sharif said that due to the inordinate delay in the project, the cost of project scaled up from 840 million dollars to five billion dollars.