LHC wants to know progress on Diamer Bhasha, Mohmand dams

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday gave more time to the federal government to furnish a report explaining progress thus far made on the construction of Diamer-Basha and Mohmand dams.

A bench of the high court was hearing a petition seeking to bring to light details of construction work on the dams.

It also summoned a report on propaganda reportedly being peddled against construction of dams in the country.

The hearing was adjourned until Jan 31.

At a previous hearing, the court had ordered the federal government to provide complete details of acquired land and tenders for the construction of the dams.

The bench also asked the authorities to give particulars for allocation of funds to construct the dams.

Diamer Bhasha dam

Diamer Bhasha dam is being constructed on Indus River near Chilas (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan), 315 kilometres from Tarbela Dam and about 40 km downstream of Chilas Town, according to Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).

PC-I for Dam Part amounting to Rs474 billion was approved by Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on April 17 – 2018. Subsequently after inclusion of 15 MW Tangir HPP, the revised cost of PC-I amounting to Rs479.686 billion approved by ECNEC on November 14 – 2018, the authority said.

Mohmand Dam

Mohmand dam is being constructed on Swat River and it will be completed at a cost of over Rs183 bn by 2024. The dam has the capacity of storing 1.2 million acre-feet water. The project was scheduled to be completed in five years and eight months.

Mohmand dam on completion will generate 800-megawatt electricity besides bringing about 17,000 acres barren land under cultivation.

It will also solve the problem of water scarcity in Mohmand besides saving Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera districts from floods.