Pakistan Tables Wapda Security Force Bill After Deadly Dasu Hydropower Attacks

Pakistan's government has forwarded the Wapda Security Force Act, 2026 to parliament, proposing a dedicated armed force to guard critical water-sector and hydropower infrastructure and protect workers — particularly Chinese engineers — at sites including the over $6 billion (≈ Rs. 1.68 trillion at current interbank rates) Dasu Hydropower Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The legislation follows two deadly terrorist attacks at Dasu that cost dozens of lives and suspended construction for more than a year. If passed, it would create Pakistan's first standalone statutory security body dedicated exclusively to Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) assets.

The Security Gap That Prompted the Bill

WAPDA currently relies on a patchwork of agencies — the Pakistan Army, local police, Rangers, and the Frontier Constabulary — none of which operates under a unified mandate specifically covering WAPDA infrastructure. Officials say the authority's entire internal security system is now being comprehensively overhauled, and the new legislation is designed to replace ad hoc inter-agency coordination with a permanent, dedicated arrangement.

Two special security divisions of the Pakistan Army — created for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — already cover projects in Balochistan and along the Karakoram Highway up to Gilgit-Baltistan. However, WAPDA-managed hydropower projects such as Dasu fall outside the formal CPEC security arrangement. That structural gap — and the attacks that exposed it — is the direct driver behind the bill.

The Dasu Attacks and Their Consequences

The Dasu Hydropower Project on the Indus River is one of Pakistan's largest under-construction energy assets. Two terrorist attacks on its workforce have severely disrupted progress:

• November 2021: A deadly attack killed several Chinese and Pakistani workers at the project site.
• March 2024: A second attack caused further fatalities; the Chinese contractor subsequently suspended all construction activity.

Work remained halted for well over a year following the 2024 incident. Resumption required high-level diplomatic engagement between Islamabad and Beijing, compensation payments to victims' families, and acceptance of significant cost escalations and schedule delays. As an interim measure, a CPEC-style Army security cordon was extended to Dasu, but officials concluded that a permanent legislative solution was essential to give Chinese partners the confidence to continue investment and deployment of personnel in Pakistan.

Scope of the Proposed Wapda Security Force

According to the bill's statement of objects and reasons, the force will "ensure the protection and security of critical infrastructure managed by WAPDA." Once enacted, it is expected to operate at:

• Major dams and reservoir facilities
• Hydropower generation plants and associated switchyards
• Active construction sites and worker accommodation camps
• Chinese and Pakistani engineers and technical personnel at all covered locations

The bill has been sent to parliament but has not yet been passed into law. No public timeline has been announced for enactment or the force's initial deployment. Officials have emphasised that the legislation aims to build a permanent, career-track security service for WAPDA rather than continuing to rely on temporary deputations from police and paramilitary forces. In the interim, the expanded Army cordon at Dasu and other sites with Chinese workers continues to provide outer-perimeter cover alongside local police and paramilitary agencies.