Mohmand dam construction to employ at least 6,000 workers

PESHAWAR: The government on Friday commenced construction of the Mohmand dam after the government shifted at least 6,000 workers to the site, Express News reported.

According to the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) officials, the construction work will take up to six years.

The dam will have the gross capacity of 1.9 million acre-feet (MAF) and live capacity of 0.67 MAF with power generation potential of 800 megawatts (MW) and annual energy production of 2,862 GWh.

The dam will have a command area of 16,737 acres.

Earlier, Wapda awarded the contract for civil and electro-mechanical works of the project to a joint venture comprising China Gezhouba Group of Companies (CGGC) as the lead firm and Descon Engineering of Pakistan as its partner.

The final worth of the contract is Rs183.5 billion, which is Rs18 billion lower than that approved in the PC-I.

In July 2018, the government established Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dam Fund to raise finances for the construction of these two critical reservoirs in a bid to fight impending water scarcity.