Govt inks accord with Chinese firm, FWO for construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam

• The contract covers construction of a diversion system, main dam, access bridge and 21 megawatt Tangir hydropower project.
• The eight million acre feet reservoir with 272 meter height will be the tallest roller compact concrete dam in the world.
• The completion of project would increase country's storage capacity from 30 to 48 days and will add 4500 megawatt of additional electricity to the national grid.

(Karachi) The government has signed a contract worth Rs442 billion with a Chinese company and Frontier Works Organization (FWO) for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

The agreement was signed by Diamer-Bhasha Project Chief Executive Officer Amir Bashir Chaudhry and an authorised representative of the joint venture, Yang Jiandu on behalf of Wapda and the joint venture respectively.

The Chinese state-run firm holds 70 percent and the FWO, a commercial arm of the Armed Forces of Pakistan, 30 percent share in the consortium. The contract covers construction of a diversion system, main dam, access bridge and 21 megawatt Tangir hydropower project.

The eight million acre feet reservoir with 272 meter height will be the tallest roller compact concrete dam in the world. The dam will have 6.4 MAF usable water storage capacity and it will help alleviate acute irrigation shortage caused by siltation of existing reservoirs.

The completion of project would increase country's storage capacity from 30 to 48 days and will add 4500 megawatt of additional electricity to the national grid.

The construction of the dam will create 16,500 jobs and utilise a large quantity of cement and steel which will boost the industry. In addition, it will also help meet water storage and produce 4,500 MW of cheap and affordable electricity.

The 6.4 million acre feet (MAF) water storage capacity of the dam will reduce the current water shortage in the country of 12 MAF to 6.1 MAF. It will add 35 years to the life of Tarbela dam by reducing sedimentation. An area of 1.23 million acres of land will be brought under agriculture use due to the dam.

Besides, Rs78.5 billion will be spent on the area around the dam for its social development as part of the project. The dam will also be a major source of flood mitigation and save billions in damages caused by floods each year.