The worst affected from the recent rains and flashfloods are the people of Nasirabad in Turbat district. Most people hold technical flaws in the Mirani dam’s design responsible for the devastation of the area. The Rs5.8 billion Mirani dam project is designed to irrigate about 33,000 acres. However, its commissioning has already destroyed thousands of acres of cultivated land with 18 tube wells, five `karizes’ and many other irrigation infrastructures.
Many believe the design of the spillway needs to be redesigned as there is no provision for a flood gate and the outlet exists in the form of the sole spillway with a very limited capacity. The original project design had shown the reservoir on 6,000 acres and the fields which were at an elevation of 30 feet were depicted as being under water, while those at a depression of 30 feet as outside the reservoir area.
According to experts and local communities, a population of 50,000 will be affected in the upstream of Dasht River as a result of the storing floodwater in the dam. A majority of the population of Nasirabad, Nodiz and Kalatuk will be inundated once the water is stored in the dam to its full capacity. Official sources say that the project will not have any major adverse environmental effect in the reservoir area. About 1,100 people will need resettlement and about 4,800 acres of flood-irrigated area will be submerged. Based on market value of land and replacement value of facilities, sufficient provision has been made for covering the cost of compensation of the reservoir area.
Mirani dam will have the capacity to store 150,000 acres feet of water with its only spillway at 80 feet. The total height of the dam is planned to be 127 feet. The first feasibility report of the project was completed decades back in 1956. The 1956 survey showed the dam height at 80 feet instead of the 127 feet now planned.
Some political circles have demanded that the height of Mirani Dam be reduced by at least 10 feet in order to mitigate its adverse effects on the people in upstream and downstream areas. Ironically, the government has now planned to increase the height of Mirani Dam by another 20 feet that would also increase the cost of the resettlement plan.
Mirani Dam has been constructed on Dasht River, 43 km south west of Turbat City for irrigation purpose. Turbat is situated on the left bank of Kech stream. The 127 ft-high, 3,350 ft-long, earth-filled dam will create a reservoir, which will extend to about 10 miles upstream of the dam. It will have a designed capacity of 377 cusecs. The local people fear that as a result of the dam, two union councils, Noodaz and Nasirabad, will be inundated. According to the official sources, only some parts of the union councils will be inundated forcing only a few people to migrate.
The construction of Mirani dam has not been without its social and environmental costs. The command area has been affected for the upper riparian, which included resettlement and land acquisition, as well as for the lower riparian, which meant water rights, etc. Besides depleting the productive agricultural land, there will be manifold impacts on the local community, a cross section of income levels, living resources and living standards which would give rise to multi-dimensional socio-economic problems.
The critics say that the study conducted by Nespak remained silent on the resettlement action plan and was more biased towards the lower riparian which forced Wapda to address various aspects relating to the affected population and their resettlement. A Rs1.84 billion resettlement action plan (RAP) was recently approved for Mirani Dam project. National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) was appointed as third party to re-asses the cost of land, buildings and trees under the compensation package. Last month, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) abruptly increased the cost of date plants inundated by the dam from originally proposed Rs3000 to Rs20,000 per plant. The initiative is under consideration of NRSP that will send the final report to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), which is to approve the Resettlement Action Plan for the dam.
The local people complain that compensation provided so far is not appropriate, as land in Gwadar is costlier than any district in the province due to the construction of deep-sea port. In the case of Sabakzai Dam in Zhob district, the affected people received compensation over Rs43,000 per acre, while the Mirani Dam victims were paid Rs15,000--20,000 per acre. The total area which will be submerged under the reservoir at 244 ft is about 17,982 acres. It also includes resettlement and compensation for houses between the canal command area and the lower riparian area of the river's reach 235 miles downstream up to Jiwani. Out of the total of 17,982 acres of land, the affected people of 7,669 acres have already been paid compensation, whereas the affected people of the remaining area, which is 10,313 acres, are yet to be compensated.
The revised settlement plan by Wapda sought Rs741 million more from the federal government.. Wapda needed funds for the compensation of land, housing, infrastructure and other required facilities to the affected population.
