Pindi district to have five mini dams

Construction of reservoirs to create thousands of jobs, increase aquatic life

RAWALPINDI:

Five mini dams will be constructed in Rawalpindi’s three mountainous tehsils, Murree, Kotli Satyan, and Kahuta in the next two.

Sources said that Small Dams Organisation (SMO) teams have completed a preliminary survey of five sites to build the water reservoirs.

The mini reservoirs will be constructed in Dhar Java, Dokhda, Dosiri, Bel Chakka and Gorkanan areas of these tehsils.

According to the sources, most of the land needed for the dams is state-owned and the sites have also been demarcated while a few kanal of land will be acquired from private owners.

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The construction of these dams will cost about Rs2.5 billion. Once completed, the reservoirs will help resolve the water shortage issue in Rawalpindi’s mountainous tehsils, the sources said.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Latasib Satti and MNA Sadaqat Ali Abbasi told The Express Tribune that the reservoirs will also increase aquatic life in the area. They said that different species of birds will be set free at these sites and fish will be released in water for breeding.

The lawmakers said that the government will also plant flower and fruit-bearing plants along the reservoirs’ banks. They said that thousands of jobs will be created from these projects while the land price in the tehsils of five union councils (UCs) will also go up.

They added the government will release funds for five mini dams next year and their construction will be completed in two years.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2021.