Life with WAPDA (1984-2020) – Part 2 of 4

 

In middle of 1998 I was promoted as Senior Engineer after 14 years and posted in Lahore. I always longed to live in Lahore since childhood, therefore, receiving posting orders was like fulfillment of one of my goals. I joined multimillion dollar National Drainage Program (NDP) Project office under a team of very competent senior officers/ engineers headed by Mr. Ahmad Khan Bhatti, and later by Mr. Hasnain Afzal, Mr. Shamshad M Khan, Mr. Nisar Ali Akhtar and others. Mr. Akhtar was Advisor/Procurement Specialist from Consultants for NDP. I owe my further learning and gaining valuable experience to him. He was a real mentor in the first place and Mr. Afzal in the later part of my stint with NDP. At the conclusion of NDP Program I requested Mr. Afzal to help me in getting transferred to Hyderabad again despite his relentless insistence to join him in Neelum Jhelam Hydropower Project. Two interesting events I would like to share here:

·    WAPDA nominated me to attend a Land Drainage (Tile drainage) at ILRI, in Wageningen, the Netherlands in early 2000 for which I sent all relevant documents. In response I received a confirmation letter from ILRI to join the international course in mid of August 2000. When I applied for the visa I received another letter from ILRI informing me that their earlier confirmation letter was a mistake and they had put me on waiting list and since they have already received confirmation of all applicants therefore they regretted my participation. It was discouraging and hurting. During that time, NDP Consultants were headed by M/s EuroConsult, a Dutch firm. I explained the situation to the Team Leader (a Dutch) and requested him if he could intervene. He asked me if I had received a confirmation letter from ILRI. I affirmed it positively. He said: Give me a copy of that letter and meet me after three days. Exactly after three days he not only reconfirmed my participation in the course but also arranged my appointment with Dutch Embassy in Islamabad for issuance of visa. Within a week I was in the Netherlands.

·      During 2003 I applied for a lucrative job outside WAPDA through proper channel. My application returned/refused by Mr. Ahmad Khan Bhatti, the then Member Water with a long hand written note that read: Mr. Pitafi is an asset of WAPDA. We must not lose him. He has a long and bright future in WAPDA. Mr. Shamshad Khan, the then Director NDP advised me to get these comments of Mr. Bhatti framed and displayed on a wall.

Alhamdulillah, by closure of NDP in 2007 I had earned enough respect in WAPDA and regarded as an outstanding engineer hailing from Sindh. The praises poured in from different offices in Lahore. Mr. Raghib Abbas Shah, the then GM (C&M) Water was kind enough to agree and transfer me in Sindh but he posted me at Rainee Canal Project at Guddu where I never liked to go. I had wanted to go to Hyderabad to spend some time with my ageing mother. Finally, the competent authority convinced to my request.

While in Lahore during 1998-2007 I have had opportunities to attend international training courses and seminars/workshops in the Netherlands, China and India. Such chances were not easy to come by while posted out of Lahore. Further, when the time came and I was able to do Masters from University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, I preferred to go for MBA instead which I did during 1999-2001 from the University of Punjab. The thirst of doing Masters in any of Civil Engineering fields, however, remained unquenched.

Working in Hyderabad with Consultants for Redesign of Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) for initial two years and further two years for Lining of Canals remained highly fruitful and productive. I also earned accolades by getting nominated and then receiving an Outstanding Performance Award from Mr. Shakeel Durrani, Chairman WAPDA in 2009. In spite of above recognition, it was hard time adjusting in Hyderabad for both myself and family after having spent almost ten years in Lahore. I could not adjust to overall working environment of GM (South) office. It was entirely different culture of working in comparison to Lahore. Gossip precluded the completion of timely tasks. I used to sit long hours while many of us attended the office like visitors. The culmination point was the refusal of the then GM (South) WAPDA in allowing me to do Masters from Mehran University (by then ageing had taught me to concede to my earlier inflexible stance about doing Masters from the best or equivalent to NED university). For family and kids; the inferior schooling standards, non-availability of utilities, especially water supply, poor hygiene conditions, etc., kept them regretting the decision of leaving Lahore. Mr. Hasnain Afzal who helped me in getting posted in Hyderabad had earlier warned me on several occasions that you would regret going back to Hyderabad. After the sad demise of my mother in early 2011 we bade farewell to Hyderabad and returned to Lahore.

Mr. Sheraz Jamil Memon, my NED classmate and lifelong friend convinced me to join his office i.e. Pakistan Commission for Indus Waters (PCIW) on deputation from WAPDA. He was working as Additional Commissioner and also acting as Commissioner/head of office. I was reluctant in the first place to work under a friend (and a boss) but since we were very close friends I decided in favour of him and joined PCIW in March 2011. It was an altogether new experience while working in a different organization dealing with Indus Waters Treaty 1960.

Within a couple of months, I reached to a conclusion that working under a friend was not comfortable. We both have had different natures of dealing with superior officers and subordinate staff. Besides, WAPDA treated me as an alien and did not promote me in the next grade on the condition that I was away and working in a different organization. It was simply a heartbreaking event. Another discouraging situation in PCIW was that the institute was highly politicized and being run by a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) directly. Unfortunately, Mr. Sheraz was directly under the SAPM’s hammer and facing hard time there. Since I had a choice of returning back to WAPDA therefore I availed the chance and left PCIW after working there for eleven months. Nevertheless, I had the valuable oppurtunity to attend Court of Arbitration for Kishan Ganga HPP Water Dispute on Neelum River at the International Court of Justice, The Hague, the Netherlands and also visited Indian Occupied Kashmir, notably from Leh Ladakh region to Kargil along Indus river. (Next….Part 3/4)