Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam would start this year as Rs 8000 million has been allocated in the recently announced federal budget for this purpose. Talking to reporters here on Wednesday.
The minister said the construction of this dam would ensure green revolution in the country by producing 4500MW-power generation as well as water storage, which would contribute for meeting the demand of electricity and water for irrigation.
Regarding beginning of the construction, the minister said that the construction of the Dam would begin by the end of this year or around September-October according to the scheduled finalised for the project. Wapda authorities have already been directed to follow the schedule to ensure completion of the mega project in the given time frame, the minister said.
Wapda authorities are working to complete the resettlement plan for the affectees of the Dam site belonging to Northern Areas and NWFP, he said. Pervez Ashraf said that the generation of 4,500 MW inexpensive hydel power from Diamer-Bhasha Dam would reduce the dependence on thermal power resulting saving of huge foreign exchange and make available 6.4 MAF of water for irrigation.
He said that the project would also create massive infrastructure and job opportunities leading to the overall socio-economic uplift of the area. Responding to a question about the land acquisition and resettlement of the dam site affectees, the minister said that the ECNEC had already approved the project for land acquisition and resettlement of the dam at a cost of about Rs 60 billion.
Diamer-Bhasha Dam is being build at Indus River near Chilas area of Northern Areas having some portion lying in the area of District Kohistan, NWFP. According to the project, the construction will begin in September this year and will be completed within a period of seven year. It is pertinent to mention here that Diamer-Bhasha Dam Project will be the highest Roller Compacted Concrete Dam in the world having height of 272 meters.
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