Islamabad
Diamer-Bhasha hydro power project is going to be the largest water conservancy project in the country that will drive Pakistan to new heights of development.
After completion, it will be the world’s highest and largest roller compacted concrete (RCC) dam project, known as Pakistan’s “Three Gorges”. The 272 meters high Diamer-Bhasha Dam will become another large hydropower project in Pakistan after Tarbela and Mangla hydropower projects, Professor at the Chinese Southwest University of Political Science and Law Cheng Xizhong said in his article published in Gwadar pro on Friday.
He said on July 23, Asim Saleem Bajwa, Chairman of CPEC Authority announced that the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam, a large hydropower project with historic milestone significance, has started.
Construction of the dam will be jointly undertaken by Power Construction Corporation of China and Frontier Works Organization (FWO) of Pakistan. It is planned to be completed in 2028 with a total installed capacity of 4.5 million kilowatts, which can deliver 18 billion kilowatts of electricity to the state grid every year. For many years, construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam in Pakistan has been an issue of public concern.
Due to well-known reasons, the list of 22 major projects in the first phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) could not include the project. In 2013, Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) issued a request for proposal to American, British, German companies, and after that, also asked the World Bank.—APP
