ISLAMABAD – After having assured financial support from the bilateral development partners for financing the $11.1 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam on Indus River, the government is all set to perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the reservoir during the current month.
An official source in the Ministry of Water and Power said the groundbreaking ceremony for the project was proposed for the first week of April, but was postponed due to the busy schedule of the prime minister. He said the inauguration was now likely to take place in the third or fourth week of April.
“Since we have financing assurance from the US, it will be not be an issue as other multilateral donors are likely to follow suit,” he said. The Diamer-Bhasha dam will have a designed live water storage capacity of about 6.4 million acre feet (MAF) and power generation capacity of 4,500MW. The dam would take 10 years to complete.
