Mangla dam test filling this year

Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Shakeel Durrani informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that the test filling of the Mangla reservoir would be carried out during the upcoming monsoon season.
He made this response to the committee which wished to know what steps were being taken to stop the flow of 35 million acre feet (MAF) into the sea. He said WAPDA was working on mega water storage plan under which an action on various new reservoirs would be undertaken.
Durrani said that the test filling of the Mangla dam would allow additional water storage of 3 MAF in the reservoir. He said that after a gap of 35 years, the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam would commence from the middle of next year, as donors have committed to finance the project. He said the government had allocated Rs18 billion for the said purpose during the next fiscal year.
He noted that WAPDA had asked consultants to prepare a study including proposals for desilting of the Tarbela reservoir that had lost 28 per cent of its storage capacity. He said an estimated 200 million tonnes of silt per annum gets deposited in the dam. He said the consultants would give recommendations within 15 months with regards to the matter
Senator Ahmad Ali when asked whether the choice of dredging was a consideration replied that the option was very expensive as it required $50 billion. However, he said the consultants were working to flush out silt from the Tarbela dam but then it would have to pass through all barrages that are down stream up till the sea.
He informed the committee that the Gomal Zam dam in North Waziristan would store up till 1 MAF of water during the year. He further mentioned that an amount of $700 million was available for the Kurram Tangi dam and it would store 1.2 MAF of water.
Regarding the Munda Dam project, he said that it had been taken over by WAPDA in 2008 and Japan had expressed its willingness to provide a credit of $850 million for the dam. He said financial bids of the project would be opened on June 16 and the contract would be awarded in July. The project would be completed in two years.