Daily Times

Federal Secretary Water Resources Ministry Dr. Kazim Niaz and WAPDA Chairman Lt. Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) Saturday visited Mohmand Dam Project to review the situation in the project area in the wake of the unprecedented flood peaks in River Swat.

The Federal Secretary and WAPDA Chairman had a detailed round of various components of the project to have first hand information about adverse impact of the flood in the project area, said a press release. Mohmand Dam Project Director, senior WAPDA officers, representatives of the Consultants and the Contractor were also present during their visit. Mohmand Dam Project management made a detailed presentation about the pre and post-flood situations.

The Federal Secretary and the Chairman were briefed that construction activities were continuing at a good pace on as many as 14 locations of the project prior to the flood that severely hit the construction area yesterday.

They were also briefed about the impact of the flood and loss to different components of the project, especially diversion tunnels, re-regulation pond and periphery roads on both banks of River Swat in the project area.

It was further briefed that this loss and impact will affect timelines of the project’s completion. The Federal Secretary and the Chairman were also apprised of the measures taken by the project management to avoid any further loss.

Speaking on the occasion, WAPDA Chairman said that the prompt response of the project management to such unprecedented flood had not only helped minimize impact of the flood but also save precious lives of the engineers and workers at the construction sites, which is commendable.

He said that the construction activities shall be resumed immediately after passage of the flood. The Chairman directed the project management to devise a contingency plan in consultation with the Consultants and the Contractor to overcome possible delays in completion of the project.

It is pertinent to mention that Mohmand Dam is being constructed on River Swat in District Mohmand of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the 5th highest concrete-face-rock-fill Dam (CFRD) in the world. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2026. On completion, the dam will store about 1.2-million-acre feet (MAF) of water and help mitigate floods in Peshawar, Charsadda and Naushera.

Besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, about 18,237 acres of new land will also be irrigated. Mohmand Dam Power House will generate 800 megawatt (MW) hydel electricity, contributing 2.86 billion units of low-cost and environment friendly hydel electricity annually to the National Grid.

In addition, 300 million gallons water per day will also be provided to Peshawar for drinking purpose. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs. 51.6 billion.