Pakistan getting two big dams five decades after Mangla, Tarbela: PM

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said five decades after Mangla and Tarbela, Pakistan was going to have two big water dams – Mohmand and Bhasha.

A video shared by Prime Minister Khan on twitter showed the under-construction site of Mohmand dam with work in progress on diversion tunnels, outlet portals, access tunnel and re-regulation pond.

Being built on Swat River, the Mohmand Dam will generate 800 MW of hydroelectricity, irrigate over 16,000 acres of land and contribute heavily to the socio-economic uplift of the region.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had performed the ground-breaking of Mohmand Dam on May 2, 2019.

Besides hydropower generation, Mohmand Dam will help mitigate floods and ensure socio-economic uplift of the people of area. The Water and Power Development Authority awarded the contract worth Rs.183.523 billion for civil and electro-mechanical works of Mohmand Dam Project to a Joint Venture (JV) comprising China Gezhouba Group of Companies (CGGC) of China as the lead firm and DESCON of Pakistan as its partner.

Other sideline projects include, installation of solar panels at high schools and mosques and development of community infrastructure.

The Diamer Bhasha is being built on Indus River near Chilas in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan, 315 km from Tarbela Dam and about 40 km downstream of Chilas.

The 272-metre high, having capacity of 6.4 million acre feet water reservoir, will be the country’s third big dam after Tarbela and Mangla dams.