Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has announced that the contract for the construction of Pakistan’s largest Diamer-Bhasha Dam has been awarded to the Pakistan Army-run Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and a Chinese state-owned company, Power China.
The dam project with a total financial expense of about Rs 1.4 trillion is expected to be completed in 2028, according to WAPDA chairman retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information, Retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, claimed in his tweet that the project would create 16,500 jobs and generate 4,500 megawatts of electricity for Pakistanis. He termed the commencement of construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam as a ‘historic milestone’.
Mobilisation for Diamer Bhasha:Historic milestone as PM kicks off mega construction work at Diamer Bhasha Dam today.6.4 MAF Water reservoir,will add 1.2 M acres for agriculture,4500 MW cheaper,greener Hydel power, steel/cement/construction boost,16000 jobs.#pakistanmakingprogress pic.twitter.com/4moytVC2tp
— Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimSBajwa) July 15, 2020
Read: Starting of Construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam Historic Step: Asim Saleem Bajwa
Pakistan considers the Diamer-Bhasha Dam essential for electricity and water. Pakistan has not built any major dam since the 1960s.
The prime minister regretted that it took the country more than 40 years to finally begin the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam that was first proposed in 1980.
According to details of Baaghi TV, the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project has been under consideration since decades. The project was first considered in the early 1980s. The project was first inaugurated in 1998 by the then-Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. In 2006, the then-President, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf re-announced the construction of the dam.
Read: PM directs to begin construction work of Diamer-Bhasha Dam
Later in 2011, the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. In July 2018, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), Justice Saqib Nisar, ordered the Government of Pakistan to immediately start the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, to address the water and power shortage in the country.
The feasibility report of the dam was first prepared in 2004 while work on its feasibility and design was done again between 2005 and 2008. In 2008, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, which includes representatives from all four provinces and the federation, formally approved the construction of the dam.
According to sources, the cost of the dam in 2008 was about 12 billion. In 2014, then-Finance Minister Ishaq Dar claimed that international agencies were ready to fund the dam project, but in practice this did not happen. In 2015 alone, the government claimed that it had started acquiring land with its own resources at a cost of Rs 5.5 billion, but local victims did not confirm the receipt of the money.
Read: Diamer Bhasha, Mohmand dams’ Fund receives over Rs 11.32 bln
In 2016, the then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formally approved the economic plan for the project and ordered that work on the project should begin before the end of 2017. In 2017, talks were held with China to include the project in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Regular tenders were also issued for this but the tender was later canceled due to strict Chinese conditions on the project.
The Diamer Bhasha Dam, which has the capacity to store more than 6 million acre feet of water and irrigate 1.2 million acres of land, is expected to generate 4,500 MW of electricity. The project is expected to be completed in 2028.
Read: Corona crisis and the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam
“Diamer-Bhasha Dam will change the fate of locals and bring immense development in the area,” the prime minster said.
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