ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah has said that Pakistan is in dire need of water and low-cost electricity which necessitates timely completion of the projects in water and hydropower sectors. He expressed these views during his visits to Mohmand Dam and Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project. He was accompanied by Chairman WAPDA Naveed Asghar Chaudhry during the visits. Speaking on the occasion, the Federal Minister for Water Resources urged upon WAPDA to ensure completion of the projects in accordance with the stipulated timelines by expediting its efforts for the purpose. However, the laid down construction standards in execution of the projects must be adhered to, he added. The minister further said that the Ministry will closely monitor progress on the under-construction projects and provide full support to WAPDA in completing these projects on-time by removing bottlenecks in the way to their implementation. In the first leg, the Minister for Water Resources visited Mohmand Dam and witnessed construction activities on various components of the project including main dam, power intake and diversion spillway tunnels. He also inaugurated the newly-constructed mosque in project colony. Earlier, General Manager Mohmand Dam and General Manager (Land Acquisition & Resettlement) WAPDA briefed the minister for the progress achieved on the project so far. The minister was briefed that the construction work is underway simultaneously on as many as 14 sites.  Mohmand Dam has gross water storage capacity of 1.2 MAF and power generation capacity of 800 MW. The project will be completed in 2026. He was briefed that the project will provide 2.86 billion units of cheap yet environment-friendly electricity to the national grid annually whereas the overall annual benefits of the project stand at Rs. 51 billion. In the second leg of his visit, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah reached Tarbela Dam and visited Tarbela 4th Extension and under-construction Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project. The General Manager (Tarbela Dam) and the General Manager (Power) Tarbela briefed the federal minister bout Tarbela 4th Extension Hydel Power Station and the under-construction Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project. The federal minister had a detailed round of the various component of Tarbela 5th Extension and reviewed pace of work on the project. He was briefed that Tarbela 5th Extension has installed generation capacity of 1530 MW. Electricity generation from the project will start in 2024.

 

With completion of the project, installed generation capacity at Tarbela will increase from 4888 MW to 6418 MW. Tarbela 5th Extension will provide 1.347 billion units of low-cost and green energy to the national grid on the average every year. Annual benefits of the Project envisaged in PC-I, have been estimated at Rs. 15 billion.