All water reservoirs to be constructed by 2015

[Janbaz]

Five hydel projects proposed

Naqi Akbar
Lahore - The irrigation department has proposed the inclusion of five hydel generation projects besides the repair work of two barrages in the period 2007-2010 having a total cost bill of Rs 11 billion; Rs 4.001 for the hydel projects and Rs 7 billion for the rehabilitation of the headworks. The projects identified would be initially spread over the period of three financial years; 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-2010. The Mid Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF) document that identifies and proposes the projects would be the base for the next fiscal year ADP for irrigation besides the bench mark for the next two financial years.
As per the initial estimates the ADP for irrigation works in 2007-08 would be around Rs 12 billion, in 2008-09 Rs 14.4 billion and in 2009-2010 Rs 15.75 billion.
As per the MTBF document covering the period between 2007-08 to 2009-10, the five hydel projects; hydel power stations are to be located in Marala, Chianwali, Pakpattan, Okara and Deg Outfall. The station at Marala has been estimated at Rs 1.064 billion, Chianwali Rs 0.827 billion, Pakpattan Rs 0.462 billion, Okara Rs 0.692 billion and Deg Outfall has been estimated at Rs 0.676 billion.
The Marala project as per the Irrigation department proposal would be allocated Rs 198 million in the next fiscal year 2007-08, while Chianwali would get Rs 164 million, Pakpattan Rs 90 million, Okara Rs 136 million and Rs 131 million for Deg Outfall. Apart from these projects, about Rs 110 million have been estimated for feasibility studies related to more such projects, while Rs 170 million have been allocated for capacity building of the irrigation department for undertaking hydel projects studies.
The two barrages identified for the rehabilitation work are Jinnah barrage having an estimated cost bill of Rs 6 billion and Islam headwork having estimated cost of Rs 1 billion.
All the five hydel projects will have a substantial share of donor agencies contribution while the rehabilitation projects for the Jinnah and Islam headworks will have an initial allocation of almost 90 per cent for the first year of the project.

The Nation.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/apr-2007/4/bnews1.php

 

[Neo]

Mangla dam raising to be completed in 2008

By Sayed Abid Hussain Shah

MIRPUR AJK: Construction work for Mangla dam raising is in full swing and the project is targeted to be completed by the end of next year, official sources said.

The gigantic Rs62 billion project, the sources told The News here today, will open new vistas of speedy socio-economic uplift, progress and prosperity since the project will augment supply of irrigation water in various parts of the country including in Punjab and Sindh provinces at a time when country is in its dire need.

Elaborating the important features of the project, the sources said that there would be additional power generation and further flood alleviation as a result raising the dam by 30 feet from the existing 1210 feet level. Conservation level of the dam will be up 40 feet from existing 1202 feet. On the average, annual water availability for irrigation releases for various parts of the country including both Sindh and Punjab would increase by 2.9 million MAF.

The availability inexpensive Hydel electricity shall increase reducing additional burden of expensive thermal energy from IPPs (Independent Power Projects). The average annual energy output is estimated to increase by 772 GWH which is equivalent to an increase of about 150 megawatts in output of the existing 1000-MW power plant. The raising project will also generate construction activity and employment opportunities at large scale, according to the sources.

The dam has already contributed significantly towards improvement of the environment in terms of agriculture growth, job opportunities and improved standard of living. Availability of additional water and hydropower will further enhance these positive impacts.

It may be mentioned here that since the completion in 1967, the gross storage capacity of Mangla reservoir has reduced by about 20 percent due to sedimentation. Compensating for the capacity lost to sedimentation a provision for raising of the dam was kept in the original design and construction of the dam. Raising of the dam had gained importance on account of the ever increasing shortage of irrigation water due to sedimentation of the country’s two major storage reservoirs at Terbela and Mangla.

Main features of the project include four earth dams with a maximum height of 454 ft. (154 meter) and a total length of about 13 kilometers. For flood routing, two spillways are provided. Hydropower is generated through ten units of 100 megawatts each. Water to the power generating units is supplied through five tunnels. Irrigation releases are usually made through the tunnels, occasionally supplemented by release through the main spillway.

Azad Jammu Kashmir, the sources continued, will also get benefit of raising the dam as the down stream areas on thousands acres of lands in adjoining districts of Mirpur and Bhimbher shall be brought under irrigation after having water from the dam in the light of the commitment by the government.

Water from the dam could also be utilized for drinking purposes in Mirpur and the hamlets in its outskirts including those located on the periphery of the Mangla dam reservoir.

It may be recalled that when completed in 1967, Mangla Dam’s reservoir had a gross storage capacity of 5.878 million MAF, which by now has reduced to 4.68 MAF. The capacity will reduce further to 4.50 MAF by the time the dam raising project is completed in May 2008, the sources added.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=51571

 

[Neo]

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Pakistan seeking $17 billion for dams

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has asked international donors to provide $17 billion for construction of five big dams to overcome water and electricity shortage in the country, Water and Power Minister Liaquat Jatoi said on Friday.

Chairing a session on ‘Water, power and prosperity’ at the Pakistan Development Forum 2007, Jatoi said that donors were helping Pakistan implement multi-billion dollar projects and added that they should also help the country build big dams – Diamer-Basha Dam, Munda Dam, Kalabagh Dam, Akhori Dam and Kurram Tangi Dam. He said the government had allocated Rs 48 billion for the development of water and power sector and Rs 60 billion would be allocated for water-related projects in the next fiscal year.

WAPDA Chairman Tariq Hamid said the authority had provided electricity to 45,000 villages or over eight million people in the last four years. WAPDA’s consumer base has increased from 12.2 million to 16.7 million, he added. He said that gross storage capacity of the Tarbela Dam had decreased from 11.62 million acre feet (MAF) to 8.24 MAF and it was expected to further decrease to 5.4 MAF by 2025.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\04\28\story_28-4-2007_pg7_3

 

[Neo]

May 03, 2007
Power project in doldrums

ISLAMABAD, May 2: The $1.5 billion Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project in Azad Kashmir is in the doldrums following the inability of the government and Wapda to award contract for its construction, which may result in Pakistan losing its priority rights over Jhelum waters.

A project of the Water and Power Development Authority, the 969MW project has been hanging in the balance for six years, although it is considered crucial to secure Pakistan’s priority rights over Neelum waters — a tributary of the river Jhelum — threatened by the Indian move to use its waters for power generation and diversion.

Sources told Dawn Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had taken up the project with the Chinese leadership during his recent visit and the complexities relating to Chinese bidders, but the outcome was not encouraging. The prime minister later told reporters that the Neelum-Jhelum project was not discussed with China.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah separately told Dawn that financing for the project was available in the form of offers from Qatar and the Middle East, but Wapda had been asked to take a decision on the bidder as well as project structure.

He confirmed that the lowest bidder had not been able to arrange credit for the project. He, however, declined to comment on the second lowest bid, saying the government would arrange financing when Wapda took a decision on technical issues.

The bidding for the project was held about a year ago. The contract could not be signed with the lowest bidder that quoted $1.3 billion price for the project because it failed to arrange required buyer’s credit -– a pre-condition under the bidding.As a result, discussions were held with the second lowest bidder that offered $1.8 billion along with buyer’s credit of about $700 million. However, the talks failed when Wapda found that the manufacturer of the plan and machinery for both the bidders quoted incredibly higher rates in case of the second bidder.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/03/top7.htm

 

[Neo]

Dams must for economy boost: FPCCI

ISLAMABAD (May 11 2007): The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Thursday demanded of the government to build Kalabagh and other mega dams, announced by the President Pervez Musharraf as a part of his agenda, to expedite the process of economic growth.

Its president Tanvir Shaikh, Businessmen Panel chairman Tariq Sayeed and Co-chairman Iftikhar Ali Malik told a press conference held here that FPCCI fully supports President Pervez Musharraf's agenda and believes it is the only way out to ensure Pakistan's progress and prosperity.

The FPCCI leadership said completion of President Pervez Musharraf's agenda will help the government sustain economic growth to address the serious issues such as unemployment and poverty.

Tanvir Shaikh and other FPCCI leaders demanded that the government should undertake new projects for power production to ensure continuous supply of electricity to the industrial and other sectors, which play an important role in economic growth.

Tanvir Shaikh added that Pakistan's economy was booming due to consistency in government policies and the process of reforms and liberalised economic policies helped Pakistan emerge as a fastest growing economy of Asia.

Tariq Sayeed said Pakistan witnessed encouraging improvement in all the sectors and revolutionary changes in the economic field were indicative of success of the policies.

He said Pakistan's credit rating has significantly improved and foreign companies and investors were interested in investing in Pakistan. He said Pakistan foreign direct investment (FDI) is for the first time in its history going to cross $5 billion mark in the current fiscal year.

Iftikhar Ali Malik said all indicators of the economy were showing robust growth and the stock market index jumped up from 1,703 to over 12,000 (more than 1000 percent increase) recently. He added that the international financial experts categorised KSE as the world's fastest growing market.

Iftikhar Ali Malik noted that Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves reached at the record level from meager 800 million dollar to over 1200 billion dollar in 2006-07.

He said poverty rate has declined from 34 to 23 percent during the last five years. Unemployment shrunk from 9 to 7 percent. IT sector led employment generation drive and Exports crossed 17 billion dollar mark last year and this year they are expected to touch the target of 18.6 billion dollar.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=562277&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

‘Mangla and Tarbela dams will die in 40 years’

* Tarbela Dam director says Pakistan has no option but to make new dams

LAHORE: Tarbela Dam director and former chief technical advisor to the UN, Bashir A Malik, told Daily Times that the Mangla and Tarbela dams would likely loose their lives and maximum storage capacities in the next four decades, leaving the country with no option but to built new dams in order to avoid power and water crises.

Malik said that the Tarbela Dam would likely ‘die’ by 2030 and the Mangla Dam by 2070. He said that the water storage capacity of these dams was decreasing everyday because of the increasing ***** in them. He said the current power crisis in the country, particularly in Karachi would increase manifold in the next 10 years. He added that though the life of dams was short and the increasing silt in dams was a threat to their water storage capacities, Pakistan had no other option, especially after signing the Indus Water treaty.

Malik said that currently, the country’s power generation capacity was more than 700 megawatts and its deficit was around 1,500MW. He said that the country’s population was increasing at a rate of more than 2 percent every year and at this rate, it would be impossible to cater to the country’s increasing power needs. He said that besides the Kalabagh Dam and smaller dams in the NWPF, the government should also consider the Kohala Hydel Scheme at River Jhelum, which could help generate around 4,500 KW of electricity everyday. He said Pakistan had the capacity to generate around 30,000 MW through hydro power plants and with this step, the country could save water and generate power at the same time. He said Pakistan should beware of any agreement like the Indus Water Treaty.

Malik is also the writer of Indus Water Treaty in Retrospect, which provides detailed information about the Indus Water Treaty.

Punjab Water Council secretary general Ibadur Rehman Khan told Daily Times that the country’s dams were losing their storage capacity at a rate of one percent a year due to the increasing silt and by the next 10 to 15 years, there would be a severe water shortage in the country in case new dams were not built. He said that if the Kalabagh Dam was built till 2015, the already available dams would have lost most of their storage capacities. He said the establishment of Kalabagh Dam was essential because it would establish the dams available now. He said the Kalabagh Dam would have a lifetime of 450 years.

He said that even the country’s wheat and cotton crops were largely dependent on rains because there was a lack of water. He said that the current crop was not a bumper crop because enough water was not available through tube wells.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\06\story_6-6-2007_pg7_48

 

[Neo]

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

‘Two small dams to be built in Kurram Agency’

PARACHINAR: Two small dams will be constructed in Kurram Agency at a cost of Rs 400 million in fiscal year 2007-08, XEN Irrigation Department official Shaukat Ali Afridi said on Monday. Talking to reporters, he said, “The government has spent Rs 120 million on various irrigation schemes.”

Afridi said Rs 100 million and Rs 30.4 million would be spent on the Kota Raga Dam and the Maidani Dam respectively in fiscal year 2007-08, which on completion would change the destiny of the tribal people. He said the Luqmankhel Irrigation Scheme was in its final stages and would soon be completed at a cost of Rs 20.68 million. The Luqmankhel scheme will irrigate 1,600 acres of agricultural land and 1,000 acres of barren land, the official added.

Shaukat Ali said 90 million irrigation channels and protective bunds had been damaged due to the devastating rains in March. The department, he added, had completed a survey of a number of rain-affected areas and had submitted a report for development schemes worth Rs 590 million. He said 16 small hydro power plants had been completed in central Kurram Agency, which could generate five to 10 kilovolts of electricity.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\12\story_12-6-2007_pg7_34