MOHMAND: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday broke ground on the 183 billion-rupee Mohmand Hydropower Dam project that will generate 800 megawatts of electricity and aims to directly benefit the people of Charsadda, Mohmand and the adjoining areas of Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KP).
KP Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Water Resources Minister Faisal Vawda, Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadari, Senator Faisal Javed and Member National Assembly Sajid Khan and other PTI leaders and Wapda officials attended the ceremony.
Wapda Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Muzamil Hussain and project director of the dam briefed the Prime Minister about salient features of the project. On completion, the dam will generate an estimated annual energy of about 2,862GWh and have an active water storage reservoir of about 1.2MAF in addition to bringing about 17,000 acres of barren land under cultivation.
Mohmand Dam is being constructed on River Swat about 48 kilometres from Peshawar at the confluence of Mohmand and Charsadda district and the dam’s reservoir area extends upstream to Mohmand, Bajaur and other northern districts in KP.
Moreover, the project will supply 13.32 million cubic metres of drinking water to Peshawar. The dam will also address the long-awaited problem of water scarcity in Mohmand district and will save Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera and other districts from floods in future.
The project is scheduled to be completed in five years. It will alleviate poverty by providing job opportunities to thousands of people in the project area and its annual benefits for the country are estimated at Rs51.6 billion.
Its construction will help national power policy achieve the dual goals of meeting Pakistan’s energy needs in a sustainable manner and ensuring generation of affordable electricity, while helping to reduce existing energy’s demand and supply gap.Around 8,675 acres land are being acquired for construction of requisite infrastructure at the dam site besides the 56-km long reservoir, irrigation network and re-regulation pond area.
