CDWP okays 27 projects worth over Rs 1 trillion

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Committee formed to submit report on water availability in all provinces

By Ijaz Kakakhel

ISLAMABAD: The first Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting of the current year on Friday approved 27 developmental projects related to water, including the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam, under the chairmanship of Deputy Planning Commission, Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali.

The meeting considered 27 projects costing over Rs 1 trillion including Foreign Exchange Component (FEC) of Rs 359.9 billion. Twenty-five new projects, along with two ongoing projects were considered. Among the total 25 projects, each of 12 projects cost over and above Rs 1 billion and was recommended to Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for approval.

The meeting was attended by the sponsoring agencies including Ministry of Water and Power, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the representatives of provincial governments.

The meeting was called to discuss mainly the water sector projects including small, medium and large dams. The government has given special importance to water sector and decided to construct 32 small and medium dams, eight in each province in addition to the mega dams.

The small and medium dams approved by the CDWP meeting include, Punjab: seven dams costing Rs 5.7 billion, Sindh: five dams worth Rs 21.6 billion, NWFP: four dams costing Rs 3.4 billion, Balochistan: six dams worth Rs 22.3 billion. Two projects related to FATA and FANA were also approved today. The provincial governments would meet the cost of land and would also develop command areas from their own resources, the meeting decided.

The construction of Diamer Bhasha dam was the top priority of the government. It would add 450 megawatts (MW), which would help to meet the increasing demand of electricity. Similarly, power generation by other small dams including Naulang Dam, Pelar Dam, Bara Multipurpose Dam, Sheikh Hyder Zam Dam and Nai Gaj Dam would add to the existing capacity of the country.

The CDWP approved Diamer Bhasha Dam project, however a committee consisting of chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), member (water) WAPDA, Secretary M/O Food and Agriculture, member (energy) Planning Commission and one representative from each province had been informed to submit a report on availability of water. The committee under the chairmanship of chairman PARC would submit the report in 2-3 weeks. Infrastructure development including the construction of multipurpose dams to support sustainable socio-economic development is the highest priority, its multiple benefits include water supply, irrigation, flood control and energy generation. For irrigation purpose, presently 196 million acre feet (MAF) of total water surface is available and about 215 MAF of water would be required by year 2013 and about 277 MAF by year 2025.

Therefore, construction of a series of storage dams at all feasible sites was direly needed to support the economy. Around 6.8 MAF of irrigation water would be added by construction of these dams. Additionally ongoing schemes of dams would add 17.5 MAF of water capacity during the coming years. An amount of Rs 18 billion had been allocated against these projects in the Public Sector Development Programme 2009-10.

A special programme announced by the president costing Rs 350 million for the optimal utilisation of the potential of highly qualified overseas Pakistanis was also approved by the CDWP. Similarly a national project for enhancing the existing capacity of grain storages costing Rs 27 billion was approved as well. The CDWP also considered concept papers namely; Establishment of National Training Centre (NTTC), Kasur, Creation of new facilities for Handling and Purification of Coal Gas (HBCG) produced by underground Coal Gasification and Production of Coal Gas by Underground Coal Gasification .The scope of the project had been extended to cover entire Pakistan.

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