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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a cabinet meeting on Friday approved land acquisition for the Diamer-Bhasha dam, Radio Pakistan reported.
The Diamer-Bhasha dam, a 272-metre-high dam with the capacity to generate 4,500MW of electricity per day, has been 30 years in the making. In 2008, construction on the dam was meant to be complete by 2016.
The dam is capable of storing 8.1 MAF of water and may also support other existing projects and enhance the life of Tarbela dam by 35 years.
The government had attempted to complete acquisition for the multi billion dollar project before June this year, but was unsuccessful.
The Rangers had earlier been deployed in Diamer district as a security measure to acquire land for the project as local residents were reportedly reluctant to leave the area.
A ministerial committee meeting was informed that residents of Thak and other adjoining areas were not ready to vacate their land despite being paid compensation. The government has paid at least Rs45bn as compensation.
The PM in today's meeting said the government has taken all steps for the construction of the dam, adding that transparency must be maintained in the distribution of compensation money to affectees.
He claimed the government has arranged the finances for the Dassu project through the World Bank and all the required measures are ensured for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam.
The cabinet meeting today also approved the compensation rates of barren land, an agreement between Indonesia and Pakistan on cooperative activities in the field of Defence, the ratification of a Memorandum of Understanding between the State Bank of Pakistan and the Central Bank of Jordan on general cooperation in expertise and knowledge exchange in the fields of banking and finance, and the signing of a protocol to amend the SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
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Comments (39) Closed
Sep 09, 2016 05:36pm
Nothing can beat Kalabagh Dam. Our leaders are doing us a huge disfavour by politicising it. One Kalabagh Dam can address all our energy needs and flood control.
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Sep 09, 2016 06:09pm
Keep going Mr PM. Nice move
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Sep 09, 2016 06:22pm
People are so reluctant to leave the area. In the end, we all have to die and leave the area.
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Sep 09, 2016 06:28pm
30 yrs??? Keep it up man...I can only wish
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Sep 09, 2016 06:36pm
Any time a dam is built to control floods and generate electricity is a win win situation for Pakistan. The initial outlay for dam may be high but it pays itself by producing cheap electrcity as compared to ,solar,windmill,coal and fossil fuel plants. Dams take long to build but sooner we start the better.
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Sep 09, 2016 06:41pm
We are so eager to solve our energy problems by any means necessary. Dams destroy livelihoods and ecosystems. Since 1948, the World Bank has financed large dam projects which have forcibly displaced on the order of 10 million people from their homes and lands. The Bank's own 1994 "Resettlement and Development" review admits that the vast majority of women, men and children evicted by Bank-funded projects never regained their former incomes nor received any direct benefits from the dams for which they were forced to sacrifice their homes and lands. The World Bank loves mega projects like this and our supreme leader is so naive that he's playing right into their hands, sacrificing national integrity and piling on more debt just to further his popularity and hold on power. Pathetic.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:12pm
Keep up the good work.
The people are not stupid , they are watching who is doing the real work and who is creating chaos for personal gains.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:19pm
I hope the so called human rights organisations dint raise an issue and ruckus on this. Fantastic decision by the Pakistan PM.
If it help resolve electricity shortage issues. It will help more people.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:23pm
@Uthmaan do you have solution to solve the energy problem in pskistan. Pakistan is one of the top ten countries that would starved for water in very near future unless the meme some SAMs to store it.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:26pm
Nothing will happen. These Are just political marketing tactics.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:32pm
@Khwarezmi "One Kalabagh Dam can address all our energy needs and flood control."
Pakistan Engineering Council should weigh in and give its recommendations in a professional manner. Unless it has also been compromised by the quota system beneficiaries.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:34pm
@Uthmaan "We are so eager to solve our energy problems by any means nece...
Please share your solution with us. Its okay to share the outburst as well but sharing your solution will enlighten us all.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:47pm
"---capacity to generate 4,500 MW of electricity per day" ???
What happens after the day?
Technical terms need to be defined technically, for clarity and legal implications. For example, a generator with 1 megawatt (MW) capacity that operates at that capacity consistently for one hour will produce 1 megawatthour (MWh) of electricity. If the same generator operates at only half that capacity for one hour, it will produce 0.5 MWh of electricity. Hydroelectric generators do not operate at their full capacity all the time. Their outputs vary according to the water available for release through their turbines, keeping in view the inflow into their reservoirs and other water uses.
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Sep 09, 2016 07:58pm
This is not the 1st time such announcement made about Diamer-Basha Dam, it has been inaugurated 4 or 5 times since 2005 by Country heads. But nothing is happening in the area so far. 30 years more means we have to forget any progress.
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Sep 09, 2016 08:02pm
All topi drama, Election gimmicks. What happen with Nandipur, solar power?????
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Sep 09, 2016 08:03pm
Although it has a higher generation capacity of 4,500 MW against 3,600 MW of Kalabagh Dam, it is a technical and geological reality that, Basha Dam is no substitute for Kalabagh Dam, because no irrigation canals can be taken out from it due to its location in hilly terrain.
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Sep 09, 2016 08:05pm
@Khwarezmi Yes and it will took only less than 5 years to complete. But unfortunately Ethnic politics is ruining our country.
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Sep 09, 2016 08:23pm
@Ghazi Stop voting for same corrupt politician will help.
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Sep 09, 2016 08:35pm
4500MW per day is an erroneous statement. It will produce 4500MW peak power, adding time to the unit of the number changes the meaning.
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Sep 09, 2016 08:42pm
How many times to inaugurate the same project ??
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Sep 09, 2016 09:02pm
Whats interesting is that after all these years, we are still talking about it? This is where the focus should have been all along, energy is the back bone of every country, if you don't have adequate energy, the people suffer, businesses cannot grow, the government finds themselves buying expensive oils just to stay afloat, and the people have to pay high prices ,in Pakistan's case, it all applies. Unfortunately, we have been too busy building motorways and metro buses. So the question is, should we prioritize our needs before we put all our eggs in the "want" basket?
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Sep 09, 2016 09:10pm
My family gave up our ancestral land including grave yards for Mangala dam and for Pakistan.
Power and water storage are more important than our personal associations with land.
Think of the nation and not yourselves!
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Sep 09, 2016 09:22pm
best wishes for early completion
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Sep 09, 2016 09:30pm
its so frustrating to read the news about construction of this dam again and again but nothing actually happens on ground. while on other hand india is making 10s of dams of large scale without getting involved in controversy.
very much sums up the scenario for us as a whole nation. we can not unite on one point; progress of the nation.
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Sep 09, 2016 09:52pm
@Khwarezmi These projects are also important. Very important, indeed. But I agree with you that nothing beats Kalabagh Dam. This is what Engineer Shamsul Mulk had to say about Kalabagh Dam, and he went very emotional: "The absence of Kalabagh Dam is the monument of triumph of lie and falsehood over truth and reason. We lose over Rs 200 Billion annually due to absence of Kalabagh Dam. And the loss is borne by the masses, not the elites"
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Sep 09, 2016 10:03pm
It's ironic to talk about land acquisition of a public project in the year it was supposed to be completed... and we haven't even started.
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Sep 09, 2016 10:12pm
This dam would be as complex if not more so than the Hoover dam in the US.
The Kalabagh dam is far cheaper, will hold just as much water, irrigate more land and be technically much cheaper.
The problem is that Sindh are ruled by the idiotic PPP that have made it their official policy to oppose the dam. i.e. Roti, Kapra,Mackan, no Kala Bagh dam.
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Sep 09, 2016 10:17pm
@Khwarezmi I totally agree Khaker Let us come out from darkness of ignorance and heresy of politicians I being Chief Engineer Water seen agreeing construction of Dam by BB, MUSHARAF, NS manyEngneers from Sindh , NwFP in favor of The Dam.
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Sep 09, 2016 10:28pm
Electric will be keen by 2018.
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Sep 09, 2016 11:20pm
Perusal of comments indicate that majority do not have the technical knowledge but do comment on the project. Some are trying to make political scoring for PMLN. Unfortunately not a single party has taken serious step to mitigate the threats of severe shortage of water we are going to face shortly. Planning Commission has been warning the governments about the challenges of water shortage since early nineties. Now or never situation has arisen. People of GB of proposed Gilchistan province have to suffer a lot, thousands will be totally dislocated for ever. One must think standing in the shoes of people of Chilas. They can realize how difficult is to be dislocated for ever. This is the greatest sacrifice which is being offered by the people. Further delay in the initiation of the work on the project in my opinion will be a crime.
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Sep 09, 2016 11:27pm
Heave been hearing about Diamer Bhasha from Musharraf's days.......and the land still has not been acquired. That tells you that this is more publicity than anything else.
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Sep 10, 2016 12:38am
kalabagh thé égo of panjab.
gold décision mr.pm i appriciate it.
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Sep 10, 2016 01:41am
@wellwisher And inaugurating again the firth or fifth time.
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Sep 10, 2016 02:24am
Not a viable decision. The real facts are stated by renowned water resources expert, Prof. Dr Iqbal Ali in his book "Undeclared Water War."
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Sep 10, 2016 02:49am
Least in comparison to kalabagh but good anyways. People should be given houses instead of money.
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Sep 10, 2016 03:32am
@Uthmaan ,So you are saying building this Dam is useless and should not be built? People like you are the one who blame the Gov; if they do something good and if not still they blame the same way. Tell the Gov: your genius plan I dare you.
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Sep 10, 2016 05:12am
@tahir .The problem is the current price tag of 14B dollars which no one including China is willing to fund.I am not sure who is financing the project at this time because international institutions including World Bank has not committed to provide funding. India is objecting to the dam
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Sep 10, 2016 05:25am
And what happens to the power that was suppose to be coming out of
NANDI PUR???
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Sep 10, 2016 07:58am
@Uthmaan according to which study have u referee that families that vacated their lands have never been able to have same life ? I know like 200 families personally that have benefitted in multiples since they vacated their lands for making of Tarbela Dam and since have been living far better life. Pls do some research.
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