Wapda awards Rs156.226m consultancy contract for Murunj Dam

LAHORE: In a major development for harnessing scarce water resources in Southern Punjab, Wapda awarded the consultancy contract worth Rs156.226 million to a joint venture headed by Nespak for feasibility study, detailed engineering design, preparation of tender documents and PC-I of Murunj Dam project.

Wapda’s General Manager (hydro planning) Muhammad Amin and Nespak’s general manager (water and agriculture) Javed Munir signed an agreement on behalf of Wapda and the joint venture respectively in a ceremony held at the Wapda House.

Murunj Dam project will be constructed across Kaha Nullah about 15 km from Marri village and 116 km west of Rajanpur, Punjab. Kaha Nullah is one of the largest hill torrents of the Koh-e-Sulaiman Range located in the vicinity of Rajanpur with average annual inflows of 183,000 acre feet. The available water resources are very scarce in Rajanpur and adjoining areas facing acute shortage of freshwater for drinking and agriculture.

Murunj Dam project has three main objectives namely storage of water for irrigation and drinking purpose, flood mitigation and power generation. The project will have gross water storage of 800,000 acre feet. Annual monsoon rains give rise to flashing hill torrents causing inundation of thousands of acres of land in the adjoining foothills and rendering damages to public property and cultivated land each year.

The project will generate 12 megawatt (MW) cheap and environment-friendly electricity. The project is unique in nature for Southern Punjab and will help alleviate poverty from the remote and backward region. It will change existing economic indicators and uplift the living standard of the people. The project will have tangible benefits and bring about 120,000 acre barren land into irrigable, groundwater recharging and fisheries development. Implementation of project will have significant impact on local economy.