LAHORE, Jan 15: The multi-purpose Kurram Tangi Dam project located in North Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas is ready for execution and its construction has been segregated in three components.

This was stated by Wapda Chairman Raghib Shah during a meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman said construction work on Kurram Tangi Dam project’s first component, related to tribal area development, would be initiated in March this year.

He requested the governor to help for early handing over the required land to Wapda and making effective security arrangements. He said a weir, two canals namely Spaira Ragha and Sheratella with a command area of more than 16,000 acres, two power houses of about 19 MW and a 132 Kv transmission line would be constructed under the first component.

“Annual benefits of the first component alone have been estimated at about Rs1.7 billion,” Raghib said.

The governor was also apprised that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had shown interest to provide funds for the first component, adding that an environment assessment study was being carried out to pave the way for financing of the whole project.

The chairman said the second component of the project related to the construction of main dam and three power houses, while development of irrigation system would be taken up under the third component. “Wapda is also ready to simultaneously initiate construction work on all the three components provided funds are made available.”

He also proposed to establish a steering committee including representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, FATA Development Authority, Wapda and other stakeholders to expedite implementation of the project.

The chairman said the dam project aimed at sustained socio-economic uplift in backward areas by providing water for irrigated agriculture, generating low-cost hydel electricity and creating employment opportunities for the local populace.

He said the project with gross water storage capacity of 1.2 million acre feet (MAF) and power generation capacity of 83 MW would irrigate more than 362,000 acres of land and provide 350 million units of low-cost hydel electricity. Besides, some 12,600 and 480 employment opportunities would be created during construction and operation period of the project, respectively. Overall benefits of Kurram Tangi Dam Project had been calculated at about Rs9 billion per annum.

The chairman also apprised the governor that engineering design and tender documents of Bara Dam would be ready after three months, while a detailed engineering design of Munda Dam multi-purpose project would be completed by December this year.