MOHMAND: Wapda chairman retired Lt-Gen Sajjad Ghani and federal secretary for water resources Dr Kazim Niaz on Saturday visited the Mohmand Dam project to review the situation in the project area in the wake of unprecedented floods in the Swat River.

Speaking on the occasion, the Wapda chairman said that the prompt response of the project management to the flood had not only helped minimise its impact, but also saved precious lives of the engineers and workers at the construction sites.

He said the construction activities should be resumed immediately after the flood situation was over. He directed the management to devise a contingency plan in consultation with the consultants and contractor to overcome possible delays in project completion.

Earlier, the federal secretary and Wapda chairman had a round of various components of the project to have first-hand information about impact of the flood in the project area.

Wapda chairman calls for contingency plan to avoid delays

Mohmand Dam project director and senior Wapda officers were also present on the occasion.

The dam project management made a presentation to the visiting officials about the pre- and post-flood situations. They were told that construction activities were continuing at a good pace on 14 locations of the project prior to the flood.

They were also briefed about the impact of the flood and loss to different components of the project, especially diversion tunnels, re-regulation pond and periphery roads on both banks of the Swat River in the project area.

It was stated that this loss and impact could affect timelines of the project’s completion. The two officials were also apprised of the measures taken by the project management to avoid any further damage.

A Wapda spokesman, meanwhile, said in a press statement that extraordinary flood situation had been witnessed in the Swat River at the under-construction Mohmand Dam project site.

It said that resultantly the floodwater entered the diversion tunnels, breaching and overtopping the protection dyke, which affected the construction activities at the project.

Mohmand Dam is being constructed on Swat River in Mohmand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2022