Chairman Wapda visits Darawat Dam Project

Chairman Wapda Shakil Durrani has said that Wapda is constructing small and medium-sized dams for optimum utilisation of water and land resources available in the country in addition to constructing a number of mega projects in water and hydropower sectors.
These small and medium-sized dams are being constructed on the directions of the President Zardari in the four provinces and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) for socio-economic uplift of the people residing in the far flung areas, he added.
He expressed these views during his visit to Darawat Dam Project being constructed across Nai Baran in Thatta and Jamshoro districts some 70 kilometers west of Hyderabad in Sindh province. Wapda General Manager (Projects) South, Project Director, Director small and medium Dams, and representatives of the consultants and contractors were also present during the visit.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman said that the small and medium-sized dams were vital for prosperity of the remote areas, which were solely dependent on the local water resources and could not be irrigated through Indus Basin Irrigation System. He expressed the hope that Darawat Dam Project would usher in a new era of development by providing water for irrigated agriculture, mitigating floods, providing job opportunities and reducing poverty in the area.
Earlier, the Chairman visited various components of the project to observe construction work going on there. Expressing satisfaction over the pace of work, he directed the officers concerned to complete the project according to the schedule.
During the visit, the Chairman was briefed that Darawat Dam Project is being completed with a total cost of about Rs 9.4 billion. It was further told that main dam of the project is likely to be completed by December this year, while completion of the irrigation system is scheduled in June 2013. The concrete-faced rock-filled dam is 820 feet long and 141 feet height, which would store about 120,000 acres feet of water to help irrigate 25,000 acres of land. The project will create 4500 employment opportunities during the construction, operation and its maintenance. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated more than Rs one billion. Life of the project's water reservoir will be more than 100 years, it was further told.