LAHORE: The construction work on 21MW Tangir Hydropower Project, meant for providing electricity to the people in various areas during construction phase of Diamer Bhasha Dam, has commenced, according to the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).

The construction works on eight sites of Diamer Bhasha Dam and nine of the Dasu Hydropower projects are also underway these days on a fast-track basis.

Bhasha Dam project sites where the construction work was going on include access tunnel, access roads, upstream and downstream cable bridges, a senior official told Wapda Chairman retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain who visited the area on Wednesday.

During the visit, the Wapda chairman reviewed construction work on Bhasha as well as Tangir hydropower projects.

Speaking on the occasion, the Wapda chief said that construction work on Bhasha Dam was progressing despite the Covid-19 pandemic. He, however, maintained that the project authorities must ensure achieving major construction milestones in accordance with the timelines set for this purpose.

Gen Hussain opened the newly-constructed cable way bridge across River Indus. Rest of three such bridges are scheduled to be completed in April and May one after the other for swift mobilisation on both banks of the river during high-flow season.

Pontoon bridge across the River Indus had already been completed ahead of schedule in December last year to facilitate mobilisation of machinery and workforce during the current low-flow season.

Diamer Bhasha Dam will have a gross water storage capacity of 8.1 MAF to irrigate 1.23 million acres of additional land. With installed power generation capacity of 4,500 MW, the project will provide more than 18 billion units per annum to the National Grid.

Earlier, the Wapda chairman witnessed construction activities on Dasu Hydropower Project Stage-I, being built across River Indus upstream Dasu town in Kohistan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. During the briefing about progress on the project, he was informed that the construction work on nine different sites is in progress.

He was told that river diversion works are expected to be completed by the end of this year. Afterwards, the mighty Indus would pass through the two diversion tunnels paving the way for construction of the main dam.

The Dasu Hydropower Project will be completed in two stages. Wapda is currently working on 2,160 MW-Stage-I, likely to be completed in 2025.The Stage-I will provide 12bn green and low-cost electricity to the national grid annually while the Stage-II will also contribute another 9bn units per annum.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2021