The share of overseas Pakistanis’ contribution to the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s Diamer Bhasha and Mohmand Dam Fund is only a fraction of the Rs1.939 billion donations received so far, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) statistics gathered till September 6 show. Overseas Pakistanis have contributed a mere Rs21.6 million to the fund, against Rs1.918 billion contributed by donors based in Pakistan. The fund was established on July 10.
To put things in perspective, the cost of the Diamer Bhasha dam was estimated to be $12.6 billion in 2008. It has since escalated to around $15 billion.
The two big dams constructed in the past were financed by multilateral bodies like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Mangla Dam, a multipurpose dam located on Jhelum River in Mirpur district of Azad Kashmir, was constructed at a cost of Rs15.587 billion ($1.473 billion). It was built between 1961 and 1967. The Mangla Dam Raising Project was carried out in 2004 at a cost of Rs101.384 billion.
Tarbela Dam on Indus River was constructed at a cost of $1.497 billion. Critics of large hydropower projects point to the exorbitantly high social and environmental costs of these projects and stress that similar needs can be met through smaller projects as well.
Published in Daily Times, September 8th 2018.