A necessary security step

THE government’s decision to establish “Wapda Security Force” is a significant step aimed at protecting Pakistan’s critical water and energy infrastructure as well as those associated with these projects, particularly Chinese engineers and workers. The move has been necessitated by the terrorist attacks on the Dasu Hydropower Project in 2021 and again in 2024, in which several Pakistani and Chinese nationals lost their lives. Those attacks disrupted work on one of Pakistan’s most important hydropower projects and underscored the need for a dedicated and specialised security arrangement for strategic water sector installations. Given the growing importance of dams, hydropower stations and water infrastructure to Pakistan’s economic future, the government has rightly decided to create a standalone force under the proposed Wapda Security Force Act, 2026. The proposed force will be tasked with providing security to dams, powerhouses, offices, machinery and residential compounds connected with Wapda projects. It will also protect workers travelling to and from project sites and coordinate with law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent encroachments, trespassing and terrorist threats in notified areas. Importantly, the force will operate across the country and work alongside the army, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and local police where necessary. Pakistan’s enemy, as evidenced by attacks on strategic projects, can go to any extent to destabilise the country, obstruct economic progress and sabotage cooperation with friendly nations, particularly China. The forces hostile to Pakistan clearly understand the importance of water and energy infrastructure to the country’s future and are attempting to strike at these vital arteries. In this context, the creation of the Wapda Security Force is the right move. Major dams, hydropower stations, transmission systems and water projects are not ordinary installations; they are national assets directly linked with economic