All you need to know about Mohmand Dam
ISLAMABAD: Throughout Pakistan’s tumultuous political history, the energy sector of the country has always borne the brunt of different misplaced government priorities – a major one being the continued focus on thermal power projects while sidelining the hydropower ones.
The previous government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had been more focused on road projects and thermal power plants under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, and chose not to invest in hydropower projects. The former government ignored the fact that water shortage is a major issue in Pakistan, which is directly linked to food security.
Fifty years ago, former president of Pakistan Ayub Khan foresaw the problem and conceived the idea of building another dam but it could not be materialised due to a lack of interest by the succeeding rulers – both elected and non-elected. The idea was revived during Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s tenure but its formal launching was delayed for various reasons.
Speaking about the dam, former Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) chairman Shakil Durrani told The Express Tribune that the dam was basically a flood-control project to protect different areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from flooding.
“The project was handed over to the private sector in 2002 that failed to construct the dam and wasted seven years,” he explained. “Consequently, the project was given back to Wapda in 2007.” Durrani added that the French Development Agency (AFD) granted $8 million to conduct the dam’s feasibility study, and gave another $1 million to carry out research on its environmental impact.
“Mohmand Dam is a promising project that will not only generate electricity but will also store water to irrigate land,” he said.
For the past several years, Pakistan has been witnessing a series of floods which not only resulted in loss of lives but also proved to be detrimental to the country’s economy. At present, the total water storage capacity of the country is 14 million acre feet (MAF), whereas its annual consumption requirement stands at 117 MAF. Due to a lack of storage, as much as over 10 MAF of water goes into the sea every year.
Pakistan’s first hydroelectric power development policy was designed in 1995, while the second and third policies were introduced in 2002 and 2013, respectively. During the tenure of the PML-N, power plants with a cumulative capacity of over 10,000 MW became operational under the CPEC, but none of the plants generated hydroelectric power.
At present, there are only two major dams in Pakistan – Tarbela and Mangla. The former was built in 1977, and its storage capacity has dropped to 6.4 MAF against the earlier 9.4 MAF. However, following a structure-raising project, the capacity of Mangla Dam has been increased by 3 MAF to 7.4 MAF.
In such a situation, Pakistan needs to build more dams on fast-track basis for better water management and the production of cheaper electricity. Dams would also address the issue of floods and water shortage for crops in the country.
After learning lessons from the repeated floods, the present government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has focused on building two major dams in the country – Mohmand Dam and Diamer-Basha Dam. The government has already inaugurated Mohmand Dam on May 2, 2019 to kick off its construction work.
Multiple benefits
The feasibility study of the dam was completed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in March 2000, whereas its detailed engineering design was completed in April of 2017. The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the dam’s PC-1 amounting to Rs309, 558 billion during a meeting on April 26, 2018, while the government released Rs17 billion for the ongoing financial year 2018-19 to construct the dam. Moreover, 818 acres of land has been allocated to Wapda in relation to the construction of the dam.
The gross water-storage capacity of the project is 1.2 million acre feet (MAF), and besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, more than 16,700 acres (6, 773 hectares) of new land will also be irrigated with the help of the dam.
In addition, the dam will provide 300 million gallons of drinking water per day to Peshawar. And not only that, the Mohmand Dam is also of immense importance as it is the only project that can save Peshawar, Charsadda and Naushehra from devastating floods.
The power-generation capacity of the project stands at 800 megawatt (MW), and it will provide 2.86 billion units of cheap yet environmentally-friendly electricity to the national grid every year. What’s more, the dam will also bring a refreshing change for the common man through the generation of cheap electricity.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, a Wapda official said that the dam is going to be constructed at a remote location in K-P, therefore, there would be no environment hazards or displacements as the areas is scarcely populated.
Owing to the dependency on thermal-power plants, consumers have been paying higher prices for electricity for years. The share of hydel in energy mix has been 30 per cent whereas 70 per cent is generated from other resources.
According to data provided to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), the share of hydroelectric power generation was only 22.77 per cent as of February 2019. As against that, the furnace-oil-based electricity share was 1.6 per cent, re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) was 16.89 per cent, local gas 23.8 per cent, coal 18.7 per cent and nuclear energy 11.68 per cent.
The cost of furnace-oil-based power was Rs11.9081 per unit, RLNG was Rs9.7643 per unit, local-gas-based electricity Rs5.7927 per unit, coal Rs7.8932 per unit and nuclear energy Rs0.9512 per unit. The cost of hydel generation ranges between Rs2 to Rs3 per unit, therefore, the project will generate cheaper electricity and store water to irrigate additional land.
The construction of the dam will also help resolve the ongoing water conflict between different provinces in Pakistan, who have been in a tug of war over their water share and have been accusing each other for stealing water.
Source :
Tribune
