Wapda’s National Water Resource and Hydro-power Development Programme: Vision 2025 focuses on replenishing the water storage capacity lost at Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma reservoirs and constructing of new reservoir projects for more water to overcome water shortage in the country.

It also focuses on maximum development of low-cost hydro-electric power potential and indigenous coal-based thermal power. With the accomplishment of the projects envisaged in the Vision 2025 programme, a new era of agricultural and industrial development, job opportunities, poverty alleviation, socio-economic uplift is expected to start.

The ground-breaking to raise the Mangla Dam by 30 feet, by President General Pervez Musharraf on September 30, 2002 has marked the beginning of the development work of the first phase of the Vision 2025 which is the second large development outlay after the Indus Basin Resettlement Project.

On completion of the Mangla Dam Raising Project in next five years, 2.9 million acre feet more water storage will be made available for the Indus river system. Besides this, 150 MW or 772 million units of low-cost hydro-electric power annually will become available from the same power station housing 1,000 MW installed capacity.

The three fast track Vision 2025 projects taken up in August-September 2001-i.e. Gomal Zam Dam, Mirani Dam and Greater Thal Canal are progressing as per schedule. Mangla Dam Raising is one of the three more recently launched projects.The other two newly launched are the Rainee Canal and Kachhi Canal projects in Sindh and Balochistan respectively.

At this moment, the Indus Basin is utilising 106 million acre feet (MAF) of water to irrigate 36 million acres of land as a result of taming the river flows and the resultant water storage facilities. However, by the year 2010, the storage capacity of the available water reservoirs would be reduced from 18.37 MAF to 6.3 MAF due to the perpetual phenomenon of their silting up. In this process, only Mangla lake will suffer a loss of 1.6 MAF storage.

The geographical and environmental conditions, it may be appreciated, are quite congenial for the raising of Mangla Dam so as to replenish the lost capacity behind the massive structure, to add 2.9 MAF water storage capability to the existing capacity of the reservoir.

With the passage of time, the available quantity of water will keep on decreasing due to further silting up of the Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma lakes.

And only timely befitting measures could help overcome the perpetual decay process due to the natural phenomenon. Otherwise, Pakistan would land in dire straits of severe water crisis, difficult to be resolved.

Mangla was the only suitable site to build a dam on river Jhelum to create a large water reservoir behind the dam, which was constructed in 1967 to meet dire need of shortage of river waters for timely irrigation supplies resulting from the Indus Basin Treaty between India and Pakistan. As per the Treaty, the water rights over three Eastern rivers, namely, Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej went to India in 1960, leaving behind the future of the lands receiving irrigation supplies from these rivers insecure.

The problem was overcome by construction of Tarbela and Mangla dams with big reservoirs behind them along with 8 inter-river link canals to feed the three eastern rivers-fed canals and lands from the three western river waters in the share of Pakistan, namely, Indus, Jehelum and Bias.

The fresh studies of the options have also proved that the Mangla Dam raising is the only choice for optimum utilization of the Jhelum river waters to draw maximum benefits. In fact, the provision of raising Mangla Dam was integrated in its original design to take care of the silting up of the reservoir at a later stage and thereby secure its lost water storage capacity for the future needs of the country.

The raised dam project will ultimately generate RS 800 million per annum financial benefits to the country’s economy as a result of better irrigation management from 7.4 MAF of water stored here and 772 million units additional generation of electricity annually from the same 1,000 MW Mangla Power Station.

Following the extension of the Mangla lake and its consequent raising, a comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlements package has been developed which offers an incentive to the affected people.

The package also includes vocational training along with opportunities for provision of jobs.

The non-agriculturists affected persons would be given vocational training at the centres for establishing model towns. Under the package, the affected persons having no land will also get rupees two lakh per family. Moreover, in compensation for loss of house, 10 per cent more than the cost of a new house will be given.