Feasibility report of Bhasha dam, which is due to be submitted to the Federal government in July this year, may be delayed till September, and consequently this would further delay the much-needed construction of either Bhasha or Kalabagh dam.
The consultant working on the 9.04 million acre-feet dam site, 165 km south of Gilgit on the River Indus stated this before a group of Lahore-based journalists during an eco-visit to the Northern Areas.
The visit was arranged by the Forum of Environmental Journalists Pakistan (FEJP), Punjab Chapter, in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Pakistan (WWF-P).
He blamed the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) for its indifferent attitude causing this delay, as it took unduly long time to award the contract for preparing the feasibility report.
He said that the dam would be constructed in the Indus Valley and would have a considerable storage capacity between Raikot Bridge and Dasu-Sazin gorge.
Total cost of the dam would increase due to the fact that around 145 km Karakoram Highway (KKH) would have to be reconstructed around 30 metres above the lake as 94 km KKH would submerge in the dam's 782 metres long lake.
He said that a number of bridges would also be dismantled which happen to be on the lake site, and KKH itself needs to be widened to allow the supply of equipment for the construction of the 1177 metres high dam.
"Thus, under the circumstances the construction cost of the dam would be doubled," he added.
The consultant further said that the construction of the dam would displace 24,000 people who inhabit the region and the resettlement and environment cost would be to the tune of millions of rupees. However, the local people are in favour of the dam and the issue of royalty has been settled between the Federal government and quarters concerned, he added.
According to him, the dam site also falls in the seismic region; thus the huge structure of the dam would be vulnerable to moving earth. The tremors of earthquake which occurred in Mansehra last February were also felt at the dam site. Moreover, many researches on effects of earthquake on dams have indicated that the large volume of water stored in dams placed on fault lines increases earthquake tremors.
As per Wapda estimation, the dam would generate 3,660 MW electricity, but the consultant contradicted the figure and said that electricity generation would be as high as 3,700 MW.
However, he pointed out that the cost of electricity transmission would be high due to rigid and hilly terrain.
As the dam site is at a fair distance from the national grid, the laying of transmission lines would be lengthy in the rough mountainous region to supply power to the national grid. "Since it is difficult to lay transmission lines on the natural downstream flow of River Indus due to hilly terrain, it is being proposed to re-route the transmission lines through Kaghan," he said.
Another problem that needs to be tackled is siltation of the dam. The flow of River Indus carries an abundance of silt, which would be deposited in the dam's lake.
Hence, with the passage of time, the storage capacity of the dam would decrease. In order to increase the life of dam, this problem needs to be resolved, he added.
According to a WWF-P representative, the dam would have impact on the ecology of the region.
The region possesses unique desert ecology which plays an important part in the overall ecology of the region. Moreover, in and around the dam site, rich and diverse flora and fauna are found and it was also habitat of many species.
Thus, the construction of the dam would not only pose a threat to the natural habitat of many species, but it would also affect the balance of the region's ecology and environment.
Moreover, the concentration of water in the form of lake would change the composition of water, which would have an impact on the habitat of aquatic life.
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