By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Diamer Bhasha Dam next week to inspect the construction work on strategically important project.The development work on project has been accelerated in the wake of swift mobilization of the Contractor to the site.
A press release issued by WAPDA here on Saturday said that Diamer Bhasha Dam was marred with delay of decades due to various contributing factors. However, the incumbent government realigned the project while prioritizing the water and hydropower sectors in its development strategy.
Following prompt decision making by the government and an innovative financial plan by WAPDA to arrange funds for construction of the project with meager burden on the national exchequer, Diamer Bhasha Dam is at last going to see light of the day.
After Mohmand Dam which was started in 2019, Diamer Bhasha Dam is the second mega multi-purpose dam that has been commenced in about a year.
Diamer Bhasha Dam, a vital project for water, food and energy security of Pakistan, is being constructed on River Indus, 315 Kilometer (Km) upstream of Tarbela Dam, 180 Km downstream of Gilgit, and 40 Km downstream of Chilas town. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2028-29.
The project has three core objectives namely water storage for agriculture, flood mitigation and hydel power generation. The dam will have a gross water storage capacity of 8.1 million acre feet (MAF) to irrigate 1.23 million acres of additional land. The project with installed power generation capacity of 4500 megawatt (MW) will provide more than 18 billion units per annum to the National Grid.
