LAHORE – Wapda has completed the 17.4 megawatt (MW) Gomal Zam Power House – a component of the Gomal Zam Dam Project.
Gomal Zam Dam is the first-ever mega project in water sector constructed in Fata. The power house is currently on test run and will start providing electricity to the National Grid in a month.
Gomal Zam Dam Project located in South Waziristan Agency, consists of three main components including dam, power house and irrigation system. The dam was completed last year, the power house is now completed while the irrigation system is at the advanced stage of completion. Gross storage capacity of the project is 1.14 million acre feet (MAF) of water to irrigate 163,000 acres of land. The power house will contribute 91 million units of electricity annually to the system, which is sufficient to supply power to about 25,000 households.
Gomal Zam Dam Project is of immense importance for socio-economic uplift of the populace of remote areas, particularly FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said Wapda spokesperson, adding the project would ensure availability of water for irrigated agriculture, control floods and provide low-cost hydel electricity.
“The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided $40 million to help complete the main dam and the power house. Another $40 million are also being provided by the USAID for completion of irrigation component of the project and $12 million are committed for development of Waran Canal System.”