Minister wants work on water projects expedited

Khurshid Shah says Pakistan in dire need of water and low-cost electricity

HARIPUR:

Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah has directed officials concerned to speed up work on additional water and hydel power projects and complete them on time.

He visited Mohmand Dam and Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project on Thursday. WAPDA Chairman Naveed Asghar Chaudhry also accompanied him.

The minister said that Pakistan is in dire need of water and low-cost electricity, which necessitates timely completion of the projects in the water and hydropower sectors.

Shah urged WAPDA to ensure the completion of the projects in accordance with the stipulated timelines by expediting its efforts. However, the laid down construction standards in the execution of the projects must be adhered to, he added.

The minister further said that the ministry will closely monitor progress of the under-construction projects and provide full support to WAPDA in completing these projects by removing bottlenecks in the way to their implementation in the first leg.

During his visit to Mohmand Dam, he witnessed construction activities on various components of the project, including main dam, power intake and diversion spillway tunnels.

He also inaugurated the newly-constructed mosque in the project colony.

Earlier, General Manager Mohmand Dam and General Manager (Land Acquisition and Resettlement) WAPDA briefed the minister about the progress achieved on the project so far.

The minister was briefed that the construction work is underway simultaneously on as many as 14 sites. Mohmand Dam has a gross water storage capacity of 1.2 MAF and a power generation capacity of 800 Megawatts.

The project will be completed in 2026 and will provide 2.86 billion units of cheap yet environment-friendly electricity to the national grid annually whereas the overall annual benefits of the project stand at Rs51 billion.

In the second leg of his visit, the minister reached Tarbela Dam and visited Tarbela 4th Extension and under-construction Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project.

The general manager (Tarbela Dam) and the general manager (Power) Tarbela briefed him about Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station and the under-construction Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project.

The minister had a detailed round of the various component of Tarbela 5th Extension and reviewed the pace of work on the project.

He was informed by the officials that Tarbela 5th Extension has installed a generation capacity of 1,530 MW. Electricity generation from the project will start in 2024.

With the completion of the project, the installed generation capacity at Tarbela will increase from 4888 MW to 6418 MW. Tarbela 5th Extension will provide 1.347 billion units of low-cost and green energy to the national grid on the average every year. Annual benefits of the project envisaged in PC-I have been estimated at Rs15 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2022.