Without being decisive on supporting or rejecting Kalabagh Dam project, various similar projects are being constructed to exploit the abundant water and hydropower potential of Pakistan. Mangla Dam Raising Project will generate an additional 644 gigawatt hour electricity per annum.
Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Member Water Syed Raghib Abbas Shah made these remarks while addressing a press conference here at WAPDA House on Friday. He was accompanied by WAPDA Secretary Muhammad Imtiaz Tajwar and General Manager Mangla Dam Raising Project Rasheed Ali Khan Bangash. Member water said that Pakistan had been blessed with hydropower potential of 60,000 MW, while work on various water sector projects was being carried out to generate 20,000 MW of electricity.
Speaking about the Mangla Dam Raising Project, Syed Raghib Abbas Shah said with completion of this mega water reserviour, 2.88 million acre feet (MAF) additional storage capacity would be added. He added that 644 gigawatt hours electricity per annum would be additionally generated due to availability of extra water.
He made it clear that Mangla Dam Raising Project was aimed at regaining the reservoir capacity lost due to sedimentation in the last several decades. He added that it would help store more water for irrigation releases while minimizing threat of floods.
Talking about what he called unprecedented resettlement work associated with Mangla Dam Raising Project, he said a New City near Mirpur and four small towns at Islamgarh, Chaksawari, Dudial and Siakh had been developed at the project cost for the resettlement of Mangla Dam Raising Project affectees. He maintained that out of total cost of Rs101 billion of the whole project, Rs66 billion had been spent on extensive resettlement plan. He said this work included construction of public buildings roads, streets bridges, laying of underground cable, erection of street light poles.
Above all, he said, construction of Bridge over Dhangali as a project component had helped resolve the overdue problem of local people as now they are able to connect with the federal capital. With construction of this bridge, he observed, people of the area now can travel to federal capital in far less time and with more convenience.