CJP, other SC judges tour Mangla Dam

Wapda chief briefs delegation on dam’s importance

Honourable judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, and a delegation of foreign and local water experts visited Mangla Dam.

Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Muzammil Hussain and other senior official welcomed the visitors.

The delegation was briefed that Mangla Dam had been greatly contributing towards economic development and social uplift for the last 51 years by providing water for irrigated agriculture, mitigating floods and generating low-cost hydel electricity.

The delegation was also told that Mangla Dam, the first-ever multi-purpose mega project, was completed in 1967 with live water storage capacity of 5.88 MAF which reduced to 4.6 MAF till 2004 due to sedimentation. The Mangla Dam Raising Project was subsequently initiated in 2004 to maximise the water potential of River Jhelum.

The project was substantially completed in December 2009, increasing water storage capacity to 7.4 MAF with an addition of 2.88 MAF. Resultantly, Mangla Dam surpassed the water storage capacity of Tarbela Dam and became the largest water reservoir in the country.

According to the briefing by the Wapda chief, the life of the Mangla reservoir, launched in 1960, was thought to be 100 to 115 years. However, effective watershed techniques adopted by WAPDA and completion of Mangla Dam Raising Project have increased its life to 269 years.

He said the water authority handed over fishing rights in the reservoir to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government in 2003 as a confidence building measure.



Giving an account of Mangla Hydel power station,  he told the delegation that installation of the first four generating units, having a capacity of 100 megawatt each, was completed in 1967. The units attained its maximum generation capacity of 1000MW in 1994.

In view of the aging factor related to the equipment and availability of additional water due to the raising of Mangla Dam, Wapda is executing Mangla Refurbishment Project. On completion of the project in a phased manner, the generation capacity of the station will increase to 1310 MW.