Rs 30 bn to be allocated for Diamer-Bhasha Dam in new budget

[LahoreEstate]

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

By Mehtab Haider

ISLAMABAD: The government has envisaged two separate allocations, amounting to Rs 30 billion, for the construction of the much-required multi-billion dollar Diamer-Bhasha Dam in the budget for the fiscal 2009-10, an official source told The News.

According to the working paper and minutes of a recently-held Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) meeting, a copy of which is available with The News, the government has allocated Rs 15.09 billion for the acquisition of land and the resettlement plan for the dam.

In another allocation, the government envisaged Rs 15.5 billion for the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam in the next budget, taking the total to Rs 30 billion in 2009-10. A senior official said the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) had taken a decision to make separate allocation for land acquisition and construction of the dam in order to differentiate where the cost escalation rested.

Section 4 will be imposed by the administrations of the NWFP and the Northern Areas during the land-purchasing process for the dam in the next budget. The government has put the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, costing Rs 805.08 billion with foreign loan component of Rs 313.73 billion, into new projects of the Water and Power Division for 2009-10.

The Water and Power Ministry had demanded Rs 8 billion for 2009-10, but the priorities committee approved Rs 15.5 billion, with foreign component of Rs 300 million for the next budget 2009-10.

The APCC has approved the same amount of Rs 15.5 billion for budgetary allocation in the next fiscal. For acquisition of land and resettlement plan for the dam, the government has estimated a cost of Rs 60.05 billion. Out of which, it will allocate Rs 15.09 billion for moving towards the desired objective by the next fiscal.

The government has asked the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) to provide financial assistance for this multi-billion dollar project.According to initial indications, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is going to invest a substantial amount in this project.

The profile of the project stated that there would be acquisition of land for the dam, reservoir and resettlement of 28,640 affectees (4,135 households). It would be a multi-purpose dam, with an installed capacity of 4,500 megawatt and water storage capacity of 6.4 million acre feet (maf).

The submerged area of the dam will be 115 sq km (28,500 acres) and it will be located at 315 km upstream of the Tarbela Dam and 40 km downstream of Chilas, Kohistan. On the main dam, the type of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam will be the roller compacted concrete (RCC). The maximum height of the dam will be 270 metre. Regarding main spillways, there will be 14 gates and the size of a gate will be 11 x 16.5 m.

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