PAF delegation briefed on water security at Wapda House

LAHORE: Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (Retd) on Monday, while briefing a delegation of PAF Air War College, Karachi, said that water security is an integral part of national security.

He said the Wapda is constructing as many as 10 mega projects to help ensure water, food and energy security of Pakistan, adding Diamer Basha Dam, Mohmand Dam, Dasu Hydropower Project, Kurram Tangi Dam and Nai Gaj Dam are to name a few.

The delegation, headed by Air Vice Marshal Hussain Ahmad Siddiqui, visited the Wapda House to receive a briefing on the role and functions of Wapda, various development plans and water security challenges of Pakistan. The members and senior officers of Wapda were also present on the occasion.

Highlighting water and hydropower scenario in Pakistan, the Wapda chairman said that per capita water availability in the country has come down from 5,650 cubic meter in 1951 to an alarming level of 908 cubic meter per annum, turning Pakistan water-scarce country. Pakistan can store only 10 percent of its annual river flows against the world average of 40 percent, he added.

“We have merely 30 days carry over capacity of water in comparison to India with 170 days, Egypt with 700 days and US with 900 days. The carry over water storage capacity will have to be increased from 30 days to 120 days. Likewise, the low-cost hydel electricity - which stands at 9,406 MW at present - also requires to be drastically improved from existing 30 percent to at least 50 percent in the national grid,” the chairman said.

Briefing the delegation on the development plans, he said the Wapda is implementing multi-pronged strategy for unprecedented hydropower and water storage development in Pakistan under the vision of “Decade of Dams”, through an innovative financial strategy.

He said that on the completion of these projects, the water storage capacity in Pakistan will increase from existing 13.6 million acre feet (MAF) to 25.3 MAF with an addition of 11.7 MAF irrigating another 3.5 million acres of land. The additional water storage will increase carry over capacity of Pakistan from 30 to 45 days, he added.

“These projects will also add 4,543 MW by 2026 and yet another 6,853 MW of hydel energy to the national grid by 2028-29. Hence, the installed generation capacity of Wapda will surge from existing 9,406 MW to 20,802 MW with more than 120 percent increase by 2028-29 in a phased manner,” the chairman said.

He said that besides creating about 35,000 employment opportunities, the projects are also contributing significantly towards the socio-economic uplift of the underdeveloped areas. Following the briefing, there was an intensive interactive session on the subject to further update the participants about the ongoing and future projects of Wapda.