10 projects under ‘Decade of Dams’ plan announced

Minister Elahi terms move only way to improve water situation in country

ISLAMABAD:

Underscoring the significance of water resources due to their fundamental importance for sustainable socio-economic development and human survival, Water Resources Minister Moonis Elahi has announced the construction of more than 10 projects under the ‘Decade of Dams’ programme.

Presiding over a meeting with the WAPDA chairman on Wednesday, Elahi said the new projects include Diamer-Bhasha Dam, Mohmand Dam, Dasu Hydropower Project, Nai Gaj Dam, Sindh Barrage, and K-IV Project which are scheduled to be completed one by one.

Sources familiar with the matter said after completion of the projects, gross water storage capacity will increase from 13 MAF to more than 24 MAF with an addition of 11.7 MAF, sufficient to irrigate another 1.6 million acres of land and provide 950 million gallons per day for drinking purposes to Karachi and Peshawar.

During the meeting, Minister Elahi said the installed hydel generation capacity will be doubled to cross 18,000 MW with an addition of 9,000 MW. “These projects will also provide approximately 35,000 job opportunities during the construction.”

Read Work on Dasu dam to resume today

The water minister reaffirmed that WAPDA would be able to complete these projects according to the given timelines.

He reiterated that Water Resources Ministry would play its due role in the completion of all the WAPDA projects on time.

Elahi was also briefed about the development portfolio of WAPDA and the progress achieved so far on water and hydropower projects.

Towards the end of the meeting, the water minister highlighted that the federal government is constructing water and hydropower projects in the country only to improve the water situation and increase the ratio of hydel electricity in the national grid.