Mohammad Jamil
IN an atmosphere of gloom vis-à-vis Covid-19, the nation has something to rejoice. On Wednesday, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) awarded the contract for civil and electro-mechanical works. As per details, an agreement worth Rs 442 billion with a joint venture of power, China-FWO was signed on Wednesday for the construction of diversion system, main dam, access bridge and 21MW Tangir Hydropower Project. Diamer-Basha Dam Chief Executive Officer Amir Bashir Chaudhry and representative Yang Jiandu signed the agreement on behalf of WAPDA and the joint venture respectively. Addressing the ceremony, Federal Minister for Water Resources, Faisal Vawda congratulated WAPDA and Power China-FWO Joint Venture, saying that the event is a good omen for the construction of much-needed dams in Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion, WAPDA Chairman Lt. General (Retd) Muzammil Hussain said that Diamer Basha Dam will go a long way for economic development and social uplift of the country.
The eight million acre feet (MAF) reservoir with 272-metre height will be the tallest roller compact concrete (RCC) dam in the world. It will have a spillway, 14 gates and five outlets for flushing out silt. The diversion system involves two tunnels and a diversion canal — all three having one kilometre length each. The bridge — a box girder structure — under the contract will be constructed downstream of the dam structure while the 21MW power plant will be built to meet energy requirements of the project during construction. The government has already spent about Rs.170bn on the project since then on land acquisition and other expenses. The core project development (dam structure) alone is estimated to cost almost Rs.270bn. It must be noted that the Diamer Basha Dam Project, with a total financial outlay of about Rs.1406.5 billion, will be completed in 2028. It was rather strange that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh had opposed construction of KBD because of some reservations and also because they did not trust Punjab. But they do not utter a word on water-theft rather water-terrorism by India. In 2008, Pakistan suffered a loss exceeding five billion rupees in paddy crop production only in the wake of water shortage after India stopped Chenab water to fill its Baglihar dam during the month of September 2008. India is violating Indus Water Treaty, and the objective is to dry up Pakistan. The reason being, India wants Pakistan not to press for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, and it also feels that Pakistan is a major obstacle in its hegemonic designs against the countries in the region. India’s think-tanks have been working on river diversion plans with a view to creating acute water shortage in Pakistan.
The nation had witnessed Thar tragedy in 2013 whereby scores of children had died and hundreds of thousands residents suffered due to drought. If large reservoirs like Diamer-Bhasha are not constructed on a war-footing, other parts of Pakistan could also be affected by the drought especially Cholistan in Punjab province. It was criminal negligence on the part of our successive governments that they did not build any major reservoir after Mangla and Tarbela dam whose storage capacity is shrinking due to silt each passing day. Kalabagh Dam had been abandoned because of reservations of Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Various governments took plea that it will create disharmony in country. One should not ignore the reality that our four provinces are desperately calling for sufficient water to cultivate their lands, and are suspicious of each other on the distribution of water. Will it not be a source of disharmony?
We have reached a situation where not one or two but a series of dams can save our lands from turning into deserts. How disturbing it would be for our farmers to see their lands uncultivated due to water shortage in a situation when 40-42 million acre feet water of Indus River goes waste in the sea annually, simply because we have no major dam to save this water. Secondly, to meet the growing food requirements of ever-increasing population, construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam should be completed on a war-footing. Today, agricultural sector contributes 24 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); two-third of population living in rural areas depends on it; absorbs more than 50 per cent of the labour force and provides the base for 75 per cent of exports in the form of raw material and value-added products.
The plus point is that the Bhasha Dam will eliminate flood hazards to a great extent and will reduce sedimentation in Tarbela and other reservoirs, thereby improving the storage capacity and power output at Tarbela. Dasu hydro-electric project is also important, as it will produce more than 4000 mega watt, but the problem of water storage would remain because it is a run of the river project. Having said that, it is universally acknowledged that water is life because it is essential for human existence, as the human body can last weeks without food, but only days without water. Indeed, water is food also, as it is indispensable to agriculture and is critical input into a country’s agriculture, especially when it is situated in an arid or semi-arid zone. Last but not the least; water is energy as well, as worldwide hydropower accounts for 17% of global electricity production. According to experts, agriculture will need to produce 60% more food globally, and 100% more in developing countries by 2050. Loss of storage capacity due to sedimentation in Tarbela and Mangla Dams is causing serious drop even for existing agricultural production. Energy shortfall had blighted Pakistan, as industry in all the provinces had been adversely impacted. And when IPPs were given contracts for producing and supplying electricity, the cost of electricity generated by IPPs using fossil-fuel is 4-time more than hydropower.
—The writer is a senior journalist based in Lahore.
