ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered the early completion of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Indus River between Kohistan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Diamer district in Gilgit-Baltistan.
He visited the site on Sunday. Wapda Chairman retired Lt. Gen. Muzammil Hussain gave a briefing to the PM and his team on the construction work.
Sharif said we had to think about setting up mega energy projects in the face of rising energy demand. He said Diamer-Bhasha Dam was pivotal for the spur of economic growth of the country.
He maintained billions of rupees had been spent on this project and demanded swift execution of the dam. He gave a new target to Wapda for completion of the project by 2026 instead of its stipulated execution time by 2029.
The prime minister stressed the project would give a thrust to the irrigation and agriculture sectors. He said we needed a large amount of water for our crops. He underlined the need to store large quantities of rainwater which otherwise moved to sea and got wasted.
He said that the PML-N government in 1998 provided funds for the purchase of land for the dam and its previous premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi pushed the project during his stint in 2018.
Sharif also felt the need to establish a hospital in Chilas. Besides this, he also announced the construction of a 1,300-km long tunnel to improve communication means in the city.
On this occasion, the premier also offered foreigners to invest in the country.
PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Asif and spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb accompanied the prime minister to the site.
Wapda’s chairman said that the project was facing numerous challenges. However, the project after its completion would generate 16,000 jobs as numerous other programmes worth Rs2.6 trillion were also being initiated, he added.
The chairman said that the dam would enhance power production in the country, besides ensuring food security.
The dam is a joint venture of China Power and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).
Prime Minister Sharif will also hold an aerial inspection of Karakorum Highway, the power plant project and Cadet College, Chilas.
Diamer Bhasha Dam having a storage capacity of 8.1 million acre-feet will generate 18,100 gigawatt-hours of power annually after completion by April 2029, an official source said.
The installed capacity of the dam will be 4,500 megawatts and a live storage capacity of 6.4 MAF.
The total estimated cost of the project is Rs1,406,122 million which includes PC-I (acquisition of land and resettlement Rs175,436 million, PC-I (construction Rs479,686 million while the cost for PC-I (power generation facilities) is Rs751,000 million.
Similarly, the amount spent by previous governments on the dam is Rs86,685 million under acquisition of land and resettlement (AL&R) since 2009-10 while the present government has spent Rs30,273 million under AL&R and Rs51,555 million on the construction part.
The total amount of Rs116,158 million has been spent under AL&R and Rs51,555 million under the construction part.
The source further revealed that the previous government was giving priority to the completion of mega power projects and had earmarked Rs15,500 million for construction and Rs7,000 million for AL&R during the fiscal year 2020-21.
The government has so far acquired 32,073 acres of land for the project. The acquired land is around 90 percent of the total 35,924 acres of land required for the project.
