Water scarcity: ‘Funds to be released for construction of dams’

The dams will help alleviate poverty and check migration from villages.

LAHORE:

Water and Power Secretary Saifullah Chattha on Saturday directed the Water and Power Development Authority to accelerate work on small and medium-sized dams and assured them that funds for the construction will be released on time.

He reviewed progress on various water and power projects at the WAPDA House. Chattha said that the construction of Naulong and Winder Dams in Balochistan would start soon. He directed WAPDA Chairman Syed Raghib Abbas Shah to expedite work on Nai Gaj Dam in Sindh, Ghabir Dam in Punjab and Kurram Tangi Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the FATA.

The Wapda chairman said that Naulong, Winder, Ghabir and Nai Gaj Dam projects could be completed in three years if requisite funds were available on time. He said, the dams will be able to store nearly 650,000 acre feet of water, enough to irrigate more than 130,000 acres.

The Kaitu weir of Kurram Tangi Dam would also be completed in two years. It would provide water to irrigate 16,400 acres, he said.

Construction on the projects had halted due to lack of funds, but Chattha assured the officials that funds would be arranged on time so that the projects could be completed within three years. These projects would help alleviate poverty, support socio-economic development and slow down migration towards cities.

Naulong Dam project in Jhal Magsi, Balochistan, would have gross water storage capacity of 242,000 acre feet and a command area of 47,000 acres. Winder Dam in Lasbela, Balochistan, would store 36,484 acre feet of water and irrigate 10,000 acres of land. Ghabir Dam in Chakwal would have gross storage capacity of 66,200 acre feet water and irrigate 15,000 acres of land. Nai Gah Dam in Dadu, Sindh, would have a gross storage capacity of 300,000 acre feet with a command area of 57,800 acres of land.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2013.