Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Engr Lt Gen (R) Sajjad Ghani has said that pace of construction work will be further accelerated on Dasu Hydropower Project, as long-delayed process of land acquisition has substantially been completed.
The Chairman expressed these views during his visit to Dasu Hydropower Project on Tuesday, the WAPDA spokesman confirmed this to media here. Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman said that the issue of acquiring the land was the major obstacle in the way to speedy implementation of the project. He appreciated the efforts made by the project management and the support rendered by the district administration and the provincial government to resolve this issue.
The Chairman had a detailed visit of the starter dam and the under-ground power house of the project. During a briefing by the GM/PD and the Project Managers of the Consultants and the Contractors, the Chairman was briefed that the river diversion system functioning satisfactorily during the recent high-flow season. A 1.3 Km-long left bank flushing tunnel has also been temporarily opened last week for the traffic to bypass main dam site and facilitate excavation of the dam abutment at the left bank as well. Excavation of the intake, power house, tail race tunnel, surge chamber and transformers cavern is also in progress. The 4320 MW-Dasu Hydropower Project is planned to be completed in two stages.
The under construction 2160 MW-Stage-I will start electricity generation in 2026. Earlier, the Chairman also visited Diamer Basha Dam Project to review construction activities on the key sites. CEO Diamer Basha Dam, the GM, and representatives of the Consultants and the Contractors were also present on the occasion.
The Chairman was briefed that the construction activities are being carried out simultaneously on 10 sites of the main works, which include permanent bridge, diversion tunnel, left and right abutments and low level outlets. The Chairman directed the project team to complete river diversion phase-1 by November this year as per the schedule. Diamer Basha Dam Project is scheduled for completion in 2027-28. The Dam will have a gross water storage of 8.1 MAF to irrigate 1.23 million acres of additional land. Installed power generation capacity of the project stands at 4500 MW.
Dasu Hydropower Project is a run of river project on the Indus River located 7km upstream of Dasu Town, District Kohistan (Upper), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The site is 74km downstream of proposed Diamer Basha Dam site and 345km from Islamabad. Project will generate 4320MW (12 Units @ 360 MW each) hydroelectric power with annual energy of 21445GWh and will be developed in two (02) Stages (Stage-I&II). Stage-I will generate 2160MW (06 Units @ 360MW each) with annual energy of 12,222GWh. Stage-I will be completed in five (05) years. The project is being financed by the World Bank.
Dasu Hydropower Project is one of the priority projects under the Power Policy 2013 and the Vision 2025 of Government of Pakistan.
