Daily Times

Implementation Committee on Diamer Basha and Mohmand Dams (ICDBMD), constituted by Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan, met today to review status relating to land acquisition and resettlement of the projects. The meeting was convened on the request made by the ICDBMD Sub-Committee on Land acquisition and Resettlement for Diamer Basha Dam. Chairman WAPDA Engr Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd), who is also Chairman ICDBMD, presided over the meeting.

Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan, Senior Member Board of Revenue Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Joint Secretary Finance Division, Team Leader PM Office, Commissioner Hazara Division and DC Diamer participated in the meeting virtually. While representative of Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, representative of Chief (Water) Planning Division, WAPDA Members Finance, Water and Power, GM (C&M) Water, GM LA&R, CEO Diamer Basha Dam, GM/PD Diamer Basha Dam, GM/PD Mohmand Dam, Commissioner Diamer-Astore Division and other WAPDA officers concerned also attended the meeting.

Addressing on the occasion, Chairman WAPDA thanked the participants for attending the meeting. He acknowledged the progress made by the Sub-Committee on the tasks assigned to it by the ICDBMD in its previous meeting. He expressed the hope that the administration of Gilgit Baltistan will soon finalize the strategy to proceed further for resolving the remaining household and missing chulha cases. The Chairman said that WAPDA highly values the sacrifices made by the affectees, therefore, we are very compassionate for redressal of their legitimate cases.

The Commissioner Diamer-Astore Division made a detailed deliberation about the progress/status of household and missing Chulha cases as well as terms of reference (ToR) for Grievances Redressal Committee and Missing Chulha Committee.

Later, Member Finance WAPDA, CEO Diamer Basha Dam, GM / PD Mohmand Dam, DC Mohmand and Director Legal WAPDA updated the participants about the compliance status of the decisions made by ICDBMD in its meeting held in December 2023.

It is important to note that Construction work on all key sites of Diamer Basha Dam and Mohmand Dam is progressing ahead at a good pace. WAPDA is constructing Diamer Basha Dam across River Indus to store 8.1 MAF water and generate 4500 MW clean, green and low-cost hydel electricity. Diamer Basha Dam is scheduled for completion in 2028. Mohmand Dam is being constructed across River Swat, which is scheduled for completion in 2026. It will store 1.2 MAF water and generate 800 MW electricity.