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ISLAMABAD: Construction work on two major dams — Mohmand and Diamer-Bhasha — is all set to begin in the first and second quarters of 2019 with a total approved cost of about Rs883 billion.
Mohammad Faisal Vawda, the newly appointed Minister for Water Resources, was given a briefing by Muzammil Hussain, the chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), about the building of the dams. The retired lieutenant general assured the minister that everything was on course and that construction is going to commence in 2019.
An official said construction work on the Rs309bn Mohmand dam would start in the first quarter of 2019. He added that the process of hiring consultants was in the final stages, who would evaluate the bids for the project and also monitor implementation.
The official said the authorities had invited consultancy firms to submit proposals for the Rs478bn Diamer-Bhasha dam. He added that several companies had submitted applications for the pre-qualification process and their offers were being evaluated to be included in the bidding stage.
Wapda chairman briefs minister the work will cost Rs883bn
The authorities have already divided the Diamer-Bhasha dam into two components — the main dam and other sub-structures. The first stage of the multi-purpose project will begin latest by June 2019, and will be followed by the electro-mechanical phase power house some time later, which is estimated to cost Rs751bn.
The meeting was informed that the fund created by the chief justice of Pakistan, which was later joined by the prime minister, had seen a total donation inflow of Rs4.6bn. Already, Rs23.8bn for the Diamer-Bhasha dam and Rs2bn for the Mohmand dam had been allocated in the Public Sector Development Programme 2018-19.
The Wapda chairman also explained the various factors that were causing the water crisis in the country. He said that building new dams and adopting water conservation strategies were critical for the future.
The minister was also briefed on recently completed Wapda projects and the status of other ongoing water and hydropower projects, including Dasu and Keyal Khwar hydropower plant and Kurram Tangi and Nai Gaj dams.
The briefing also touched on the ready-for-construction projects, which include Kachhi Canal Phase-II and III, Kurram Tangi dam, Tarbela’s 5th extension and Harpo and Bunji hydropower plants.
The minister assured the Wapda team that the government was fully committed to constructing hydropower projects to improve water availability for domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors, while at the same time add low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid.
Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018
Comments (15) Closed
Kalabagh Dam ?
Great News. PM Imran's Legacy will be defined by building of Dams and conservation of water.
Kala bagh dam should also be considered
Need 800+.... Donation is 4.5b.... Allocation is 23b.... You need something more than donation... In india Aamir Khan started good initiative to store water without dams.. Please see YouTube
Why wait almost a year to start the project. These two dams projects suppose to be ready to go. Already several years has been spent on it doing what? Cost goes up as projects get delays. It should start at emergency bases with full force and pls try to pay in rupees and hire mostly local engineers , workers and contractors. Use least possible foreign firms and engineers and materials.
Government should also take serious steps for kala bagh dam and who so ever oppose should be dealt with iron hands.
Not enough budgetry allocation to construct the dams speedingly.
It is good news on fans for both of get and hydro-electric power generation. It is important also to upgrade and expand low loss transmission an distribution networks as well as upgrading thrusting ones. Generation alone is only a part of the total. It has to be brought to the end user points reliably.
Kalabagh for the future of Pakistan?
It seems these guys have no idea how to handle a project that they are saying building Dam will start in first & second quarter of 2019. Such large project where consultant selection has just started takes at least a year to do engineering work and then bidding process takes at least six months then only construction can start. Just watch and they will start something just to show off and never complete or complete after many years of delay with more than double the budget.
How much did you collect by now
Muzammil hussein is not an engineer. Wapda should be led by an engineer.
@Mohsin, Mohmand dam is an ancillary and regulatory for Kalabagh dam, you can not build Kalabagh dam prior to this dam, besides generating electricity Mohmand dam would provide primary storage facility of river Chitral (river Kabul) for Kalabagh dam. All northern rivers of KPK join river Kabul (river Chitral) in valley of Peshawar, unlike river Sind these rivers flow under the monsoon belt, therefore any flood pattern in the catchment will be stored, thus preventing inundating of fertile Peshawar valley after completion of Kalabagh dam. So Punjab be patient.
Great news. Credit should be given to Honourable CJP, IK and the entire nation.
Kalabagh Dam with 4.5 MAF water storage capacity is not even sufficient to meet the 5.8 MAF storage capacities of Mangla and Tarbela dams lost to silting. Besides, if you break a link of the chain, the whole chain becomes short and not useful as required. There are dams planned downstream of Kalabagh which can only get filled with water supplied at raised elevation by Kalabagh Dam. So, if no Kalabagh, then a full stop to all future water development and shortages for Sindh and other areas downstream.