Pakistan will start construction work on Diamer-Bhasha Dam through indigenous resources as international lenders are linking serious conditions with the provision of funding and the project cost has now reached US$14 billion against the original estimates of US$5 billion. This was stated by Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman, Muzammil Hussain here on Tuesday while briefing the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament held under the chairmanship of Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah.
He said that as the water and energy security are key components of national security so keeping in view the government has finalized the plan to start work on Diamer-Bhasha Dam which has been lingering on for decades. Diamer-Bhasha dam with the cost of US$12-14 billion will generate 4,500MW of electricity, and a vast new reservoir would regulate the flow of water to farmland that is vulnerable to increasingly erratic weather patterns. "First we had requested the government to allocate Rs 80 billion for the project but later on the project was reviewed and Wapda asked the government to provide Rs 30 billion in the first phase. We are also negotiating with local banks to provide the funding and once we complete them, the dam will go for international lenders to fund the power house as everybody will be ready to fund the power house," he said.
Wapda has not only finalized planning to start construction work on Diamer-Bhasha Dam but it has also made a viable plan to start construction work on Mohmand Dam in 2018 which will produce 800 megawatts electricity as well as irrigating hundreds of thousands of acres of agriculture land and providing drinking water to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muzammil said.
"For these, we need to make critical development plans in both water and energy sectors and there has to be a strategy that could turn words into action," he said. Highlighting the condition of water and power sectors, the Wapda chairman said the country had lacked a proper national water policy for the last 70 years despite being confronted with serious water problems.
There had been a lack of focus on the development of water resources, he said, noting that the establishment of the Ministry of Water Resources had improved things due to greater focus. He said Wapda had reset its priorities in order to increase water storage capacity and increase the share of hydroelectric power in the energy mix.
The phase-I of the Kachhi Canal, a much-needed project for development of irrigated agriculture in Dera Bugti, Balochistan, has recently been completed, Hussain said, adding Neelum-Jhelum, Tarbela 4th Extension and other projects would be completed in a phased manner from early 2018 to mid-2018. He added that Neelum-Jhelum project will become operational in February 2018.
Briefing the panel former Chairman Wapda, Shakeel Durrani said that construction of Naulong Dam project in Balochistan was personally supported by former President Asif Ali Zardari and he gave directions to the concerned quarters for early completion of the project which was designed to complete at the cost of Rs 12 billion. He said that unfortunately due to some unknown reasons the project couldn't be completed which has become most critical for the water supply to millions of Quetta residents.
The panel directed the chairman Wapda and other officials concerned to start construction work on the Naulong Dam as early as possible. The panel also constituted a subcommittee to monitor the progress. The cost for the completion of Naulong Dam project, Balochistan, has gone up to Rs 31 billion from Rs 12 billion in 2010. The officials briefing the current status of the project informed the panel that as per aide-memorie-02 of Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project component-3 command area development, drinking water supply, land acquisition and security arrangements will be carried out by government of Balochistan.
The officials said that Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed interest in financing the project and sent consultation mission for the project appraisal during September 4-19, 2016 and May 11-16, 2017. The ADB informed that they will finance the project subject to updating project documents, fresh procurement of contractor and consultants and suggested action plan for Wapda/consultants and GoB.
The ADB through its aide-memoire-02, raised the observations on design aspects (spillway and life of dam) with respect to flood assessment and MoW&P also raised the observations regarding sediment inflows at Mula River. In response, the Wapda through consultants have carried out a careful review of the design and conveyed to the MoW&P and ADB that there is no any deficiency in design of the project and shared the details with ADB & MoW&P.
Comments
Comments are closed.