Rs 100b Mangla Dam raising project, bridge over river Jhelum inaugurated

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday inaugurated Rs 100 billion Mangla Dam raising project aimed at significantly increasing country’s water storage and electricity generation. The event was attended by Azad Kashmir President Sardar Yaqoob Khan, Prime Minister Chaudhary Abdul Majeed and Kashmir Affairs Minister Manzoor Wattoo.
Prime Minister Gilani also inaugurated the Dhani Gali bridge on River Jhelum, linking the Punjab with Azad Kashmir and replace the old narrow suspension bridge. After the upraising, the dam would have 2.88 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of additional water storage and 644 Gwh of additional hydel generation, with an estimated annual benefit of Rs 18 billion.
Gilani termed the project vital for national economic development and said it would go a long way in the progress and development of the country. In the past 35 years, he said no such project for storage of water was implemented and said the upraising of dam would increase storage capacity and power generation significantly. He lauded the government and private sector that helped completion of the project and said being an agricultural country, it was vital to increase the cultivated land to ensure food security.
He said that it was also important to ensure better utilization of agricultural water through brick-lining of watercourses and called for utilization of drip irrigation and sprinklers to maximize usage of limited water for greater benefit. He said the government would soon inaugurate the Diamir Bhasha Dam which would store six million MAF water and produce 4500 mega watts of electricity.
Gilani said the government has embarked upon a new vision of initiating water storage projects on smaller watercourses and rivers to ensure provision of irrigation water in far-flung areas. He also thanked China for completion of the upraising project and termed it a contribution towards greener Pakistan. He particularly mentioned the officials of China International Water and Power Electric Company for completion of the project.
He also announced a month’s salary for the WAPDA employees associated with the Mangla Dam Upraising Project. He lauded the political leadership of Azad Kashmir for standing united and working together for the development. He mentioned that the past and present leadership of Azad Kashmir was sitting together at the stage that spoke volumes of the commitment of the leadership to serve the masses.
He regretted that certain sections were in the habit of making tall claims, but there was nothing to prove it on the ground. Water and Power Minister Naveed Qamar said that Pakistan People’s Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had the honour of initiating the Mangla Dam project. He regretted that the previous governments ignored the aspect of power generation that has led to the current situation where the demand has exceeded the generation capacity.
The Kashmir Affairs minister said that the governments of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir worked hard to materialize the project of national importance. He said the upraising of the dam would ensure power generation and water for irrigation. Former Azad Kashmir prime ministers Sardar Attique Ahmed and Barrister Sultan Mahmood and former state president Raja Zulqarnain Khan were present.