Chairman WAPDA Says Mohmand Dam Project Likely to be Completed in 2026

Consultants and the Contractor Say Construction Work is Progressing Ahead on all 11 Sites of the Project

Lahore: Pakistan’s under-construction new water project Mohmand Dam Project is likely to be completed in 2026, this was reported to Chairman WAPDA Engineer Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani (Retd) during his visit to the construction site of multibillion dollar ((US$1.5 billion) water project.

The diversion system is scheduled for completion in November this year.

Member (Finance) WAPDA Naveed Asghar Chaudhry and Member (Power) WAPDA Engineer Jamil Akhtar were also present during the Chairman’s visit to Mohmand Dam Project.

WAPDA is constructing Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project on River Swat, upstream of Munda Headworks in Mohmand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

During his visit to the project today, the Chairman reviewed construction work on different sites, which included re-regulation pond, main dam, spillway, diversion tunnels, access tunnel, power intake, power house, switch yard and irrigation system etc. He urged upon the project management to strictly adhere to the specifications laid down for construction of the project.

Reviewing the pre and post-flood situations, the Chairman was of the view that concerted efforts are needed to complete this mega project in accordance with the timelines. WAPDA’s project management, the Consultants and the Contractor will have to work pro-actively in this regard, he further said.

Later, GM and PD, Mohmand Dam Project, flanked by the Consultants and the Contractor, gave a run down of progress on the project. It was briefed that most of the damages, caused to the diversion system by the devastating flood last summer, were got repaired till December last. At present, the construction work is progressing ahead on all 11 sites of the project, day and night on the sites where feasible.

Mohmand Dam is a multi- purpose project. On completion, it will store 1.2 MAF of water and help mitigate floods in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera. Besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, it will also irrigate 18,237 acres of new land in Mohmand and Charsadda. Installed generation capacity of Mohmand Dam is 800 MW. It will contribute 2.86 billion units of low-cost and environment friendly hydel electricity per annum to the National Grid. The project will also provide 300 million gallons water per day to Peshawar for drinking purpose. Estimated annual benefits of the Project stands at Rs. 51.6 billion. A sum of Rs. 4.5 billion has been earmarked for Confidence Building Measures (CBM) in the project area for socio-economic development of the locals.

According to official sources, once completed, the dam will generate 740 MW of hydroelectricity, irrigate 15,100 acres of land and control floods downstream.