'Govt speeds up work to add 8 MAF water storage through four mega dams

ISLAMABAD: The government has accelerated work on four major dams that are expected to add more than eight million acre-feet (MAF) of water storage capacity.

According to official data available with Wealth Pakistan, the country receives nearly 80 percent of its annual river flows during only 92 days between June and August, while the remaining 20 percent is spread over the other 273 days of the year, said a news release issued here on Saturday.

This uneven distribution has long created major challenges for irrigation management, flood control and water availability during dry periods.

To address the issue, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has developed major reservoirs with a combined live storage capacity of 13.168 MAF, which play a critical role in regulating water flows across the Indus Basin Irrigation System throughout the year.

Pakistan’s three principal reservoirs include Tarbela Dam with a live storage capacity of 5.580 MAF, Mangla Dam with 7.277 MAF, and Chashma Barrage with 0.311 MAF.

According to the data, the storage capacity lost in Mangla Reservoir due to sedimentation was partially restored through the Mangla Dam Raising Project, which added 2.88 MAF of storage capacity.

Wapda has also declared the current period as the “Decade of Dams” and accelerated work on several large-scale water infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening national water security amid climate change and increasing demand.

Over the past decade, the authority completed four projects that collectively added 3.914 MAF of live storage capacity. These include the Mangla Dam Raising Project, Gomal Zam Dam with 0.892 MAF, Satpara Dam with 0.053 MAF and Darawat Dam with 0.089 MAF.

Currently, four major projects with a combined live storage capacity of 8.136 MAF are under implementation.

These include the strategically important Diamer-Bhasha Dam, which alone will provide 6.4 MAF of storage capacity, along with Mohmand Dam with 0.676 MAF, Kurram Tangi Dam with 0.90 MAF and Nai Gaj Dam with 0.16 MAF.

In addition, several new reservoir projects with an estimated live storage capacity of 15.88 MAF are at planning and design stages.

These include Sindh Barrage with 2.0 MAF, Shyok Dam Multipurpose Project with 5.5 MAF, Akhori Dam with 7.0 MAF, Chiniot Dam with 0.93 MAF and Murunj Dam with 0.45 MAF.

Besides dam construction, WAPDA has expanded its hydro-meteorological monitoring and telemetry systems to enable real-time tracking of river flows, transboundary streams, reservoir levels and rainfall patterns.

The system is designed to support timely operational decisions and improve preparedness for floods and droughts.