Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
At a time China is racing to finish one of the biggest hydropower projects in Pakistan Karot Hydropower Project, opening of Karot Bridge over Jhelum river has brightened the prospects of the project completion before deadline i.e. Dec 28, 2021.
The bridge has been completed in record time and with the joint efforts of the Chinese and Pakistani engineers and workers. According to rough estimate more than 100,000 families and commuters would benefit and have easy access to the Punjab from AJK by using this bridge. The bridge is part of the Karot Power project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) the flagship project of Belt & Road Initiative (B&RI) envisioned by President of China Xi Jinping.
According to experts, the project has the potential to uplift millions of people from poverty and backwardness.
Millions of people with diverse nationalities, peculiar linguistic and cultural backgrounds are going to benefit from this huge territorial connectivity and Pakistan located at its centre is destined to turn into logistic and economic hub of the region.
The Karot power project is located on the Jhelum River in Rawalpindi and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. It is the 4th among the 5 Cascade HPPs to be developed along Jhelum River with installed capacity of 720MW. As a single power generation task hydropower complex, the project’s structure layout includes rock fill dam, spillway, powerhouse, diversion tunnels, head race power tunnels, tail race tunnel and etc.
The project is being developed under the Power Policy 2002 on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis with 5 years construction period and 30 years concession period. The 720MW Karot Hydropower Project has been listed as one of the prioritized project under the CPEC. By now the first hydropower investment project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Karot Hydropower Station has entered the stage of comprehensive construction and over 50% is already complete.
