WAPDA awards contract for Mohmand Dam construction

ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) on Tuesday awarded long delayed contract for civil and electro-mechanical works of Mohmand Dam Project to a joint venture comprising the China Gezhouba Group of Companies (CGGC) of China as the lead firm and Descon engineering company of Pakistan as its partner.

The final contract is worth Rs183.523 billion, saving Rs18 billion from the approved PC-I.

Mohmand Dam hydropower project is being constructed on River Swat in tribal district Mohmand of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project is scheduled to be completed in five years and eight months.

The contract agreement signing ceremony was held here at the WAPDA House in Lahore, wherein the representatives of the WAPDA and CGGC-Descon signed the contract agreement on behalf of their organisations.

WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (Retd), the WAPDA member, senior officers, project authorities and high-ups of CGGC and Descon were also present on the occasion.

It is worth mentioning here that the WAPDA has been able to successfully realign Mohmand Dam hydropower project after a delay of decades, removing the legal, financial and technical snags.

Addressing the contract signing ceremony, the WAPDA chairman said that Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project will phenomenally contribute towards water, food and energy security of Pakistan.

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He said that the WAPDA was committed to completing the project as early as possible to cope with the ever increasing needs of water and electricity in the country. He expressed the hope that Mohmand Dam will go a long way in stabilising the national economy besides alleviating poverty and ushering in an era of development in the project area.

On completion, the project will store about 1.2 million acre feet (MAF) of water, generate 800 megawatt (MW) of low-cost hydel electricity and help mitigating floods in Peshawar, Charsadda and Naushera. Besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, about 16,700 acres of new land will also be irrigated because of Mohmand Dam.

In addition, 300 million gallon water per day will also be provided to Peshawar for drinking purpose. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs51.6 billion.