Engineering design of Diamer-Basha dam completed

[Naveed Yaseen]

LAHORE: A detailed engineering design as well as tender documents of the multi-purpose Diamer-Basha dam have been completed and all studies and details have also been reviewed by an international panel of experts.

Water and Power Development Authority Chairman Shakil Durrani stated this during a presentation on Diamer-Basha dam at the WAPDA House here on Monday. Project consultants, senior officers of the water and power ministry and Planning Commission, former members (water) and members of WAPDA attended the presentation. The WAPDA chairman said Diamer-Basha dam “is a project of immense importance, which is the largest executed in any sector in the country.”

He informed that Rs200 million had been allocated for the project in the federal budget for 2008-09, while the pre-qualification process of contractors had already been initiated. Construction work on the project, he said, would commence next year following international competitive biddings and every effort would be made to ensure that highest professional standards of quality and safety were maintained. “The project will go a long way in coping with the increasing demand of water and electric power in the country. It will help increase the ratio of low-cost hydel power in the national grid,” the WAPDA chairman added.

Later, the consultants briefed the participants of the presentation that the 272-metre-high Diamer-Basha dam would be the highest Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) dam in the world with more than 100-km-long reservoir.

It was observed that the dam’s live storage capacity would be 6.4 million acre feet, while 4,500 megawatts of electricity would be generated by the project. Diamer-Basha dam would contribute more than 18,000 giga watt hours of electricity annually to the national grid.

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