Five dams to be built in eight months: Durrani

Five small dams having power generation capacity of 225MW will be completed over the next eight months.

ISLAMABAD: Five small dams having power generation capacity of 225 megawatts would be completed over the next eight months, easing electricity shortages in the country, Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Shakeel Durrani, said on Friday.

Speaking at a seminar on “Land acquisition and resettlement of mega hydropower projects”, he said that the projects included Satpara Dam, Gomal Zam and Jinnah hydropower projects. The government has released Rs6 billion in connection with Mangla project and payments to displaced people would start next month, he said, adding that the project would lead to an increase of 2.8 million acre feet of water in the storage capacity of the dam by next monsoon.

Durrani said that stakeholders had reached a consensus on the construction of Diamer Basha Dam and all outstanding issues including land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of people had been settled.

To a question, the Wapda chairman said that a 12-megawatt thermal unit for Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project would provide electricity for implementing the project. Besides, he said, an 18MW thermal unit would be installed at the site of Diamer Basha Dam, besides construction of an 18MW hydel unit.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2011.