PHOTO: WAPDA
LAHORE: Effective watershed management techniques to slow down the accumulation of sediment and an increase in dam’s height have enhanced the life of Mangla reservoir from 115 to 269 years, said Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in a statement.
Wapda Chairman Lieutenant General (Retired) Muzammil Hussain on Wednesday visited the Mangla watershed management project site to review progress on various measures being taken for implementation of the scheme.
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Speaking on the occasion, Hussain said watershed management played a pivotal role in increasing the life of water reservoirs by controlling soil erosion and reducing sediment flow.
Therefore, he said, implementation of the measures under watershed management was also important like that of constructing dams for water storage. He directed the officials concerned to remain focused on achieving their targets.
He was briefed that Wapda had been implementing the Mangla watershed management programme since 1960 in the reservoir’s catchment area spread over 5,710 square miles in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan to control soil erosion and reduce the pace of sedimentation.
Some of the measures taken under the project from 1966 to 2017 include developing about 130 million plants in nurseries, afforestation over 166,653 acres of catchment area and construction of 3,746 engineering structures in addition to building numerous soil conservation structures.
Consultants of the Mangla Dam in their project design way back in 1960 had put the life of the reservoir in the range of 100 to 115 years with estimated sediment load at the rate of 42,000 acre feet per annum.
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However, due to the effective measures taken under the watershed management project, the assessed rate of sediment load has remained lower at 27,747 acre feet annually. The effective watershed management techniques and completion of the Mangla Dam raising project have increased the life of the reservoir from 115 to 269 years. “Mangla’s enhanced life could be better assessed with the fact that benefits equivalent to billions of rupees are accrued every year from the dam,” the statement said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2017.
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