RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government will begin the process to hire a consultant for the Daducha Dam project by the end of next month, and work on the dam will begin next year.

This was revealed at a briefing given to the commissioner and the Punjab Irrigation Department secretary during their visit to the site for the proposed dam. They made the visit to check whether the administration had secured the area.

According to sources, the total cost of the project is Rs6.1 billion. The Punjab government has allocated Rs3bn for the acquisition of land for the dam and another Rs3bn for its construction.

The government released Rs1.7 million to the irrigation department in the 2018-19 financial year for the project’s initial cost. It allocated Rs2.5bn for the project in the 2019-20 fiscal year.

The district administration has imposed section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act in order to take over more than 18,000 kanals for the project.

The dam will be built upstream of Soan River; rainwater from Murree and the Kahuta hills will gather at the lake in Daducha village near Sihala, on Kahuta Road.

The Bhun, Launa and Bhaoni villages will be covered by the dam, and the project will affect 218 homes, seven industrial and commercial units and other areas.

Commissioner Saqib Zafar told Dawn the government wants to initiate the Daducha Dam, Leh Nullah Expressway and Ring Road projects. Initial work on the Ring Road has started, he said.

“The process for Leh Nullah Expressway has also started, as four companies have been finalised to award a contract to a consultant to carry out a feasibility study and make a PC-I. Financial bids by four companies will be opened Friday [today] and the firm will be finalised by the end of October after checking the documents,” he said.

He added that the dam will be built to bring 25 million gallons of water daily for the city areas. The land revenue department will complete a survey of the area as soon as possible, he added.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2019