Daducha Dam’s cost to be reassessed: commissioner
Ecnec approved the construction of Awaram Dam, a project of the Ministry of Water Resources, at a revised cost of Rs23.6 billion. photo: file
The Daducha Dam would help overcome water shortage in Rawalpindi as after construction of the dam, it would supply 35 million gallons of water per day to Rawalpindi city, Rawalpindi Division Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha said Sunday.
“Water scarcity has become a global problem and different countries are considering different ways to meet the shortage. Pakistan is also one of the countries suffering from a water crisis,” the commissioner said. “Due to the non-construction of dams, per capita availability of water here has decreased four times during the last 50 years,” he added.
Chattha said the shortage of dams was causing millions of cusecs of rainwater to go to waste every year or causing floods. “The government of Punjab is giving priority to the problem of water scarcity and is paying special attention to the construction of small dams,” he said and added that the approved cost of the dam being built in Daducha village near Rawat Industrial Estate was Rs6,492 million, which would now be estimated again.
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The commissioner said the construction work of the Daducha Dam would be resumed soon.
In the light of the Supreme Court’s decision and the directives of the caretaker government of Punjab, the local population would be given the prices of their land according to the current market rates, the commissioner added.
The residents whose property is affected by the construction of the dam would be given fair compensation, he said. “The district administration and the people should work hard on this project to provide clean water for future generations,” he said and added that the dam would provide clean water to the residents of Rawalpindi, Cantt, and adjoining areas.
The right-of-way of Daducha Dam had also been almost cleared to ensure that the project could be completed as soon as possible, Chattha said. A total of 16,194 kanals of 14 marla land was acquired in Rawalpindi and Kallar Syedan for the construction of the dam located 25 kilometres from Rawalpindi, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2023.