The life-giving #dams

• The gushing, frothy spillways create a tremor – you feel the ground shuddering, absorbing the thrust of the force emanating from the water coming down the sluices.

You look at the vast lake-like reservoir, and you realize that this water is life – life to the abounding agricultural plains around, to communities for consumption and energy generation. Most of all, it is a guarantee that in times ahead, life as we know it will continue.

Having inherited only 3 dams; Khushdil Khan Dam, Balochistan 1890; Spin Kariz Balochistan 1945; and Namal Dam Mianwali, Punjab 1945; Pakistan’s well-being was greatly dependent on the availability of more of these reservoirs for capacity building.

Construction of dams in Pakistan was initiated in 1955, with the Warsak Dam on the River Kabul, for hydroelectric purposes. Today, we have around 150 dams operating across Pakistan, with irrigational as well as power-generating capacity. The need, however, is much greater.

Pakistan does not have sufficient water storage capacity for the future. Being an agri-economy, the requirement is increasing, and with three eastern rivers – Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej— being blocked by the neighbor as per the Indus Water Basin Treaty 1962 – the pressure is mounting.

Recent flooding brought in excess water, but a lack of storage capacity turned it into a devastating calamity that caused immense loss of life and property, resulting in a socioeconomic collapse. Pakistan, being a frontline state for climate change, is positioned rather precariously and the challenges are predicted to be more complex.

According to a report published by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) this year, more than 80 percent of Pakistanis face severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. The report stated that Pakistan ranks 14 out of 17 countries designated as “extremely high water-risk” nations.

We must acknowledge that sufficient water storage capacity is essential for our survival. The World Bank published a report in 2019, stating that Pakistan is well endowed with water but suffers from high wastage and hence low availability for its people, pointing towards weak infrastructure as well as poor water management. This incompetency is estimated (conservatively) to cost us 4 percent of GDP or around USD 12 billion per year.

Alarmingly, Pakistan’s water storage capacity is only 30 days as compared to the USA’s, which has 900 days, and Egypt’s 700 days. Even India with 5 times more population has 170 days of storage capacity. The least water storage capacity of any country should be 120 days, and Pakistan is not meeting or even close to this criterion.

Reservoirs and dams are the only answer. New dams have been proposed and some have gone into the first stage of construction. The unavailability of funds, however, is an ongoing issue, and one such project impacted by the lack of funds is the under-construction Mohmand Multipurpose Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Mohmand Multipurpose Dam project will enable Pakistan to deal with three major challenges in this region: flood protection, renewable energy production, and rural development in crisis zones. All three are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the completion of this dam in 2025 is being highly anticipated for its stabilizing and anchoring effect.

The Saudi Development Fund (SDF) is aggressively at work in the SAARC region and has financed 90 projects so far. Reading the news that SDF will provide a USD 240 million loan for the Mohmand Multipurpose Dam is encouraging not only for the continuity of work towards the planned completion of the project but also as an addition to our sinking foreign currency reserves. And for that we are grateful.

In fact, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has always stood by Pakistan; they have a long history of supporting Pakistan on various international issues and have enjoyed with us, what analysts call a special relationship. KSA’s commitment to the progress of Pakistan is one of the sincerest links in our history and present. They are invested in a successful Pakistan and are most trusted partners.

Besides SDF, the project is co-financed by OPEC, Islamic Development Bank, and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, and is expected to have a significant impact on Pakistan’s energy and water sectors.

The project will generate 800 MW of electricity production capacity, contributing to Pakistan’s energy security. In addition, the capacity to store and irrigate will be remarkably enhanced, facilitating agricultural activities in the surrounding areas.

This is a monumental stride towards progress, and I urge Pakistani stakeholders to seriously look into activating the investment portfolio for opportunities that can translate into generation of real wealth, via agri-zones, refineries, and manufacturing industries, and while we look forward to the positive impact of this project and celebrate our ties with KSA for this significant step ahead, it would also be essential to find solutions to the pressing problems of water distribution, outdated irrigation practices, a weak and inadequate water policy framework, lack of synchronization between the federal and provincial approach, and actions to uniformly cater to the water concerns that are not limited to any one specific province or region of Pakistan but constitute a national-level crisis. Viable and sustainable solutions for water infrastructure can expedite Pakistan’s progress trajectory.