Quick Facts
Introduction
Water entered the Tarbela T-5 tunnel works on 9 November. Read what WAPDA and district officials confirmed, and what is still unknown.
An accident at the Tarbela Dam T-5 construction site on Monday led to reports online that a tunnel had collapsed. The official account is narrower than that, though several important questions remain open.
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Here is what the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and district officials have said so far, where their accounts differ, and what people living along the Indus were told to do.
What Happened at Tarbela T-5
According to WAPDA, a weak rock mass collapsed during excavation of the second bench of the connecting tunnel. Water from the Intake Pit then entered the tunnel and the area of the powerhouse under construction.
Workers were moved out and construction stopped. WAPDA says the Intake Pit has now been completely drained, no more water is reaching the downstream work sites, and pumping water out of the powerhouse has begun. Senior WAPDA officers, the project engineer and the contractor are assessing the site.
WAPDA and the Haripur Administration Gave Different Details
The two main official accounts agree on the basic outcome but describe the cause differently, which is why early reports did not match. The inquiry should settle this.
| Point | WAPDA statement | Haripur Deputy Commissioner Waseem Ahmed |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | Weak rock mass collapsed during tunnel excavation | Protective bund gave way and water entered the tunnel |
| Workers | All evacuated safely, no injuries or deaths | All evacuated; one Pakistani worker was swept away and rescued; no casualties |
| Damage | None to the main tunnel, powerhouse, tailrace culvert or switchyard | Officials were still assessing the structures when he spoke to Dawn |
| Next step | Officers, engineer and contractor assessing the situation | Work suspended indefinitely; high-level inquiry into structural or technical fault |
Has the Main Tarbela Dam Been Damaged?
None of the reports we reviewed describes damage to the main dam. The accident happened at the T-5 construction site, which is being built at Tunnel 5, and WAPDA has specifically rejected reports that the T-5 tunnel collapsed.
One caution is needed. WAPDA's published statement lists the T-5 components that were not damaged. It does not give a separate safety assessment of the wider dam, so it is better to say that no damage to the main dam has been reported than to claim an inspection has cleared it. Headlines describing a "partial collapse of Tarbela Dam" go further than the WAPDA and district statements do.
Advice for People Living Along the Indus
Swabi Deputy Commissioner Nasarullah Khan said extra water had been released from Tarbela for what he called unavoidable reasons, and that the flow and level of the Indus were expected to rise. A senior district official told Dawn there was no current threat of flooding downstream. The volume of the release has not been made public.
If you live or work near the river, follow the administration's warning and take basic precautions:
- Do not bathe, swim or go boating in the Indus until local authorities say it is safe.
- Keep children and livestock away from the riverbank.
- Take updates from the district administration and WAPDA, and do not forward unconfirmed videos or voice notes.
- In an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, call Rescue 1122.
What the T-5 Project Is
T-5 is not a new dam. It adds a power station at Tunnel 5 of the existing Tarbela Dam, so that water already passing through the tunnel can generate more electricity. For a country that depends heavily on Tarbela in the high-flow season, further delay has a real cost.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| New capacity | 1,530 MW (three units of 510 MW) |
| Tarbela capacity after completion | From 4,888 MW to 6,418 MW |
| Expected average generation | 1.347 billion units a year |
| Civil works contract | $354.6 million, awarded in May 2021 to Power Construction Corporation of China |
| Foreign financing | World Bank $390 million; Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank $300 million |
Not the Project's First Setback
Water also reached the site in August 2025, when rising reservoir levels and inflows forced a temporary suspension. In July this year, a government inquiry held the contractor, the consultant and WAPDA responsible for an earlier cofferdam collapse at T-5 and pointed to unauthorised design changes after the contract was signed.
Dawn reports that the cost has climbed from Rs82 billion to Rs317 billion, with completion moved to the end of June 2028. The Express Tribune and Aaj News give September 2027 as the deadline, so the published dates are not consistent. Neither date takes Monday's accident into account.
What Is Still Not Known
- The confirmed cause, and whether the rock failure and the bund failure were one event or two.
- How long dewatering will take and when work can resume.
- The cost of the accident and its effect on the completion date.
- How much extra water was released, and the current downstream river level.
- Whether the inquiry's findings will be made public.
For other national stories, see our Pakistan news section.
FAQs
Did Tarbela Dam collapse?
No such collapse has been reported. The incident was at the T-5 construction site, and WAPDA has called reports of a T-5 tunnel collapse incorrect.
Was anyone hurt at Tarbela T-5?
WAPDA and the Haripur administration say there were no casualties. The deputy commissioner said one worker was swept away by the water and rescued.
Why has work stopped at Tarbela T-5?
Work stopped after water entered the tunnel and powerhouse area. The Haripur deputy commissioner said it is suspended indefinitely until an inquiry reports.
Is there a flood warning for the Indus?
A senior district official said there was no current flood threat downstream, but Swabi's deputy commissioner warned that the river could rise and told people to stay out of the water.
How much electricity will T-5 add?
It is designed to add 1,530 MW, raising Tarbela's installed capacity from 4,888 MW to 6,418 MW.
Sources: Dawn, The Express Tribune and Aaj News, quoting WAPDA and district officials. Information as of the evening of 9 November 2026.
The featured image is an AI-generated illustration of a hydropower dam. It is not a photograph of Tarbela or of the incident.
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