The work on under-construction Darawat Dam has been halted due to shortage of funds.
According to a document presented by the Ministry of Water and Power to the relevant Senate standing committee, the Planning Commission had released Rs 910 million against PSDP allocation 2012-13 of Rs 2,000 million. The remaining Rs 1,190 million has not yet been released as yet causing discontinuation of the dam’s construction work. An official of the Ministry of Water and Power said the Finance Ministry was persistently being pursued for release of funds. Replying to a question, he said the physical progress of the main dam was 99 percent whereas overall almost three-fourth of the work has been completed. Responding to another question, he said a total Rs 4,000 million was required to complete the project within the stipulated time along with settling liabilities of Rs 1,500 million. The dam, located in Jhangri village on the border of Thatta and Jamshoro districts, is a component of the Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA) plan to build small and medium-sized dams to meet irrigation and electricity needs. The construction work began in January, 2012. An initial estimated cost of Rs 8.73 billion was revised to Rs 9.3 billion. According to project director Gul Mohammad Junejo, the dam will irrigate 25,000 acres and is expected to create 4,500 jobs. The dam’s water reservoir consists of 10,500 acres while the size of its catchment area is 3,149 square metres. It will have the storage capacity of 150 million cubic feet and its irrigation network, which includes a canal, minors, distributaries and sub-minors, will be spread over 64 kilometres. The Darawat Dam will be filled by rain water and through the Nai Baran seasonal drain, which has a capacity of 89,177 acre feet.
