LAHORE - Following the World Water Day celebrated last week, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has taken a giant leap forward for development of precious water resources in the country by awarding the delayed-for-decade contract for civil and electro-mechanical works of Mohmand Dam Project to a joint venture (JV) comprising the China Gezhouba Group of Companies (CGGC) of China as the lead firm and DESCON of Pakistan as its partner. The final contract is worth Rs.183.523 billion, saving Rs. 18 billion from the approved PC-I.
The contract agreement signing ceremony was held here at WAPDA House, wherein the representatives of WAPDA and CGGC-DESCON JV signed the contract agreement on behalf of their organizations. WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (Retd), WAPDA Member, senior officers, project authorities and high-ups of CGGC and DESCON were also present on the occasion. It is worth mentioning here that WAPDA has been able to successfully realign Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project after a delay of decades, removing the legal, financial and technical snags.
Addressing the contract signing ceremony, WAPDA Chairman said that Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project will phenomenally contribute towards water, food and energy security of Pakistan. He said that WAPDA is committed to completing the project as early as possible to cope with the ever increasing needs of water and electricity in the country. He expressed the hope that Mohmand Dam will go a long way in stabilizing the national economy besides alleviating poverty and ushering in an era of development in the project area.
Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project is historic and unique in nature being constructed on River Swat in Tribal District Mohmand of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The project is scheduled to be completed in five years and eight months. On completion, the project will store about 1.2 million acre feet (MAF) of water, generate 800 megawatts (MW) of low-cost hydel electricity and help mitigating floods in Peshawar, Charsadda and Naushera. Besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, about 16,700 acres of new land will also be irrigated because of Mohmand Dam. In addition, 300 million gallon water per day will also be provided to Peshawar for drinking purpose. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs. 51.6 billion.
