MOHMAND: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday performed ground-breaking of the Mohmand Dam on Swat River in Mohmand district.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Dr Noorul Haq Qadri and Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa were also present on the occasion.
Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar attended the ceremony as a special guest.
The dam will generate an estimated annual electricity about 2862GWh, besides an active water storage reservoir of about 1.2MAF in addition to bringing about 17,000 acres barren land under cultivation directly.
Mohmand Dam is being constructed on the Swat River about 48 kilometers from Peshawar at confluence of Mohmand and Charsadda districts.
Its reservoir area extends upstream to Mohmand, Bajaur and other northern districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Some 13.32 million cubic meter water will be supllied from Mohmand Dam reservoir to the Peshawar city for drinking purposes.
The dam will also address the long awaited problem of water scarcity in Mohmand district and will save Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera and other districts from floods in future.
This mega project is the initiative of the Federal government, which has huge potential to meet Pakistan’s energy and water requirements in terms of electricity generation and irrigation besides provision of clean drinking water to inhabitants of Peshawar.
The project is scheduled to be completed in five years i.e. 2024 with an estimated cost of Rs183billion and on completion will store around 1.2 million acre feet (MAF) of water and generate 800 Megawatts (MW) of hydel electricity.
It is expected to alleviate poverty by providing job opportunities to thousands of people, including the locals in the project area and its annual benefits are estimated about Rs51.6 billion for the country.
Its construction will help national power policy achieve the dual goals of meeting Pakistan’s energy needs in a sustainable manner and ensuring generation of affordable electricity, while helping to reduce existing energy’s demand and supply gap.
The construction of 213 meters high Mohmand Dam will alleviate risk of flood damages to great extend in future. The water reservoir will also control river flow and minimize intensity of floods downstream, therefore, the reservoir would be a great source of flood’s protection and will save soil from fertile land from erosion.
Around 8675 acres land are being acquired for construction of requisite infrastructure at the dam site besides 56 kilometers long reservoir, irrigation network and re-regulation pond area.