DIAMER, April 26: President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday performed the ground-breaking of $6.5 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam and declared that all dams, including Kalabagh, would be built under the ‘2016 Water Vision’ to meet the growing water and energy requirements of the country.

“Water and energy are matters of life and death for us. We have to build all dams,” he said at the ceremony.

“We have lagged far behind and have to work at a fast pace to catch up with the rest of the world,” he said.

Apart from Diamer-Bhasha and Kalabagh, the water vision envisages construction of Akori, Munda and Kuram Tangi dams by the year 2016.

The president said the past leadership lacked vision and interest to construct big reservoirs for meeting future requirements.

He held out the assurance that the government would remove apprehensions of the NWFP and Sindh vis-a-vis water issues.

“With the support of the nation, we shall move forward and achieve the goal of sustainable development,” he said at the ceremony, also attended by chief ministers of NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan.

He said if there were any controversy on other dams, the work on Bhasha dam could have been started in 1990s and the dam would have been completed by now.

Emphasising the need for constructing major reservoirs, Gen Musharraf said: “We need water to develop our agriculture while cheap energy is needed for industrial development.”

He regretted that Pakistan was producing a mere 6,000MW electricity through hydel projects against its capacity of generating 40,000MW.

He alluded to the setting up of 14 independent power producers in 1994 which were selling electricity at the rate of Rs.7 per unit against Re1 per unit generated through hydro projects.

“The entire nation is suffering from this,” he said and vowed to convert the losses caused by expensive electricity into a success by constructing water reservoirs.

President Musharraf recalled that soon after taking over he had given priority to the building of water reservoirs and initiated feasibility study of Bhasha dam in 2001.

“The work on Bhasha dam has now started and we will build all dams...we will build Kalabagh and Akori dams,” he said, adding that all guarantees would be provided to the NWFP and Sindh in this regard.

He pointed out that 35 million acre feet (MAF) of water was wasted every year, which was equivalent to the capacity of six Bhasha dams.

“This is despite the fact that the country is currently facing 9MAF of water shortage which would grow to 15-20MAF by 2020. I will not let Pakistan commit suicide because of water and energy shortage.”

He said work was already under way on raising the capacity of Mangla dam which would help save 2.9MAF of additional water and help produce cheap electricity.

COMPENSATION: Gen Musharraf announced a compensation package for those who would be displaced by the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam.

He said the government would provide 15 per cent more than the present value in case of land and 10 per cent extra in case of a house in compensation. Besides, he added, Rs300,000 would be given in compensation for land that would be flooded by the dam water.

He said that five-marla and one-kanal residential plots would also be given to the would-be affectees to build their houses in nine model villages.

The president announced that vocational training would be provided to the area people and said that construction of dam would create a lot of job opportunities.

He said that construction of Bhasha lake would also create economic opportunities for locals as it would promote fishing.

He said in view of the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam Karakoram Highway would be broadened which in turn would help increase trade with China and generate employment opportunities.

SALIENT FEATURES: Diamer-Bhasha dam will be Pakistan’s biggest reservoir. It will generate 4,500MW of electricity with a gross storage capacity of 7.3MAF. The dam will be located on the Indus river about 315km upstream of Tarbela Dam, 165km downstream of Gilgit, 40km west of Chilas and 210km north Islamabad.

The dam will have maximum height of 270 metres and impend a reservoir of about 7.4MAF, with a live storage capacity of more than 6.4MAF.

The dam will preserve 15 per cent of annual flow of Indus river, covering an area of 110sq-km.

Owing to its design that prevents silting, the dam will be the highest ‘roller compacted concrete’ type in the world, with an estimated lifespan of 100 years.

It is estimated that the present 5MAF loss of Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma reservoirs will be increased to 6MAF by the year 2012. The Diamer-Bhasha dam will provide about 6.4MAF of annual surface water storage for irrigation supplies during low-flow periods.

The present demand of electricity in the country is about 17,000MW which is estimated to cross 22,000MW by the year 2010. The contribution of 4,500MW power from Diamer-Bhasha dam will go a long way in alleviating the situation.—APP