DADU: Two mega water supply schemes have been approved under the Nai Gaaj dam project funded by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).

One scheme would supply 50 cusecs of water from Nai Gaaj dam to Manchhar Lake for decreasing environmental pollution while another, which is a powerhouse with capacity of 4.2MW, would supply power to the villages of the desert area of Kachho in Dadu district.

Work on Nai Gaaj dam was stopped in June 2018 due to financial issues and non-release of budget for the project.

Wapda South general manager Farhat Kamal said the federal government had allocated Rs5 billion budget for fiscal 2021-22 to start the construction work of Nai Gaaj dam.

The work, he said, would be started within two months and completed by June 2022.

Speaking to this reporter, he said Rs6bn were outstanding liabilities payable to the contractor. But priority would be given to the current work, he added.

He said the construction work of Nai Gaaj dam commenced in May 2012 and initially it was planned to be completed in three years, but the project was delayed, increasing its cost from an initial estimate of Rs17bn to a revised Rs47.7bn in 2019.

Around 51 per cent construction was completed by 2018. It is estimated that water would be supplied from Nai Gaaj dam to 28,800 acres of land in Johi Taluka and 300,000 acres of land in other areas of the district.

STRIKE: On the other hand, local residents of Kachho belt continued strike for starting construction work of Nai Gaaj dam.

The strike was observed in Wahi Pandhi, Qasibo, Tando Rahim Khan and Drigh Bala towns against delays in the construction work.

Speaking to protesters in Wahi Pandhi town, protest leaders said the delay in construction had caused loss to the area, otherwise it would have been fertile.

They said that if water was not released to Manchhar Lake, the lake would be destroyed, natural beauty would spoil and pollution would increase.

Water supply and powerhouse schemes were in the interest of local people, they said.

An expert of the dams, former general manager Wapda South, Ali Sher Baloch, said that if that dam would be completed within the stipulated time, it would decrease the cost of the project while further delay would increase the amount.

Speaking to journalists at Dadu, he the Kachho belt of western Dadu district was facing drought-like conditions.

He said that if the dam was constructed, the area would not face any crisis of water for humans, animals and cultivation of land.

A local social activist, Qurban Leghari, said that since 2018, the construction work of Nai Gaaj dam was stopped. He said that due to heavy rains in 2018, ’19 and 2020, the construction work and machinery were damaged. The work on the canals was also damaged, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2021