MOHMAND: Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) chairman retired Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani on Wednesday ordered the diversion of the Swat River in the current year as part of the Mohmand Dam project.

“The Wapda’s project team, consultants and contractors should execute the construction plan on time,” the Wapda chairman said during a visit to the site of the Mohmand hydropower project.

The dam is being constructed by the Wapda on the River Swat upstream of Munda Headworks here.

The Wapda chairman also visited several construction sites and diversion tunnel outlet and inlet to examine work.

Wapda chairman examines work on project

The project team told him that work was under way simultaneously at the diversion system, dam, spillway, re-regulation pond, switch yard and other key sites.

According to it, the concrete lining of diversion tunnels is progressing at a fast pace for river diversion. Excavation on the left and right abutments of the dam is complete, while concrete work on their foundations is in progress.

The team said spillway excavation was 80 per cent complete, while “concreting” was being carried out on excavated portions.

It added that earthwork of the switchyard had been completed.

Officials said the 213 meters high Mohmand Dam was a concrete-face-rock-fill dam, which was the fifth highest of its type in the world.

They said it was a multi-purpose project and slated to be completed in the year 2026-27 to store 1.2MAF of water and help mitigate floods in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera districts.

The officials said besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, the dam would also irrigate 18,237 acres of land in Mohmand and Charsadda districts.

They said the dam’s installed generation capacity was 800MW and that it would contribute 2.86 billion units of low-cost and environment-friendly hydel electricity annually to the national grid.

The officials said the project would provide 300 million gallons of water daily to Peshawar for drinking purposes.

They said the annual benefits of the project were estimated to be Rs51.6 billion.

The officials said a sum of Rs4.5 billion had been earmarked for the “confidence-building measures” in the project area for socioeconomic development of the residents.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2023