Diamer-Bhasha Dam Project will help Pakistan resolve energy crises

Diamer-Bhasha Dam Project will help Pakistan resolve energy crises

World’s highest Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) Diamer-Bhasha Dam will help Pakistan resolve the energy crises. The foundation stone of this innovative multi-purpose storage Dam was laid by President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti along with Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Shakil Durrani were also present in groundbreaking ceremony.

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam Project, the third largest water reservoir in the country, is located on Indus River in Gilgit-Baltistan region and the Dam site is located near Bhasha in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer District. The Dam will generate approximately 4500 megawatts of electricity and store an extra, 8500,000 acre feet of water that will eventually be used for irrigation and drinking.

“It would take 10 years for the completion of the dam with the cost of $12 billion. The government has already fixed Rs 15 billion in the annual budget for the construction of the Dam,” said the sources, “National exchequer would be benefited with Rs 200 billion annually and national grid would be assisted with the cheap electricity of 4,500MW per day after the completion of the project.”

“An amount of Rs 27.824 billion is required for the acquisition of land and resettlement of the people to be affected in the wake of the construction of the dam. Under the proposed project, Rs 10.76 billion will be spent for the acquisition of agriculture-barren land, tree and nurseries and Rs 1.638 billion to be utilised for properties and infrastructure, Rs 8.8 billion for establishment of nine model villages, Rs 62.119 million for pay and allowances for administrative arrangements, and Rs.17.7 million for contingent administrative expenses.”

A country like Pakistan, which is suffering from immense energy crisis, needs more dams than any other country in the world. Not only will this Dam help Pakistan resolve the energy crisis in the country, but will also help Pakistan’s agriculture sector in the foreseeable future.

                                             

                                       

Posted by Umair Hassan on Oct 18 2011. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry