Diamir Bhasha Dam

Diamir Bhasha Dam

Rashid Hussain

On 15 July 2020, Pakistan’s 3rd biggest dam Diamir Bhasha Dam was inaugurated by Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. The dam is designed to generate 4500 Megawatt electricity and it will have the capacity to store 8 million Acre Feet of water, it is said to be the highest dam of the country with a height of 272 meters. The dam will create about 16000 jobs for local persons of the area, it will also contribute towards boosting of country’s Tourism Industry as well. It is expected that the dam construction will be completed by the end of the year 2028.

The site of Pakistan’s third biggest dam Diamir Bhasha is located at Chilas city of district Diamir, Gilgit Baltistan. The plan to build this dam was formulated in the 1980s, its foundation stone was laid in 2008 but now its construction work has kicked off. In the past tenures of different governments, feasibility reports of the dam were prepared, but the work on the project could never be started owing to various political and financial factors.

Diamir Bhasha Dam is going to be built on the bank of the River Indus, no fuel will be imported for this purpose. Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the dam site, he was briefed about the mega project by chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) lieutenant general (Retired) Muzamil Hussain.

During this visit, Prime Minister Imran Khan was accompanied by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, ISI chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, chairman WAPDA, Federal Minister for water resources Faisal Wawda, CM and Governor KPK and others. After the inauguration of the project, Imran Khan in an address appreciated and acknowledged the efforts of chairman WAPDA and said China has constructed 8000 dams, China and other such countries have progressed impressively with the passage of time, they have developed their countries well but what we have done; Pakistan has only three big dams.

Chairman WAPDA Lt Gen (retired) Muzamil Hussain while talking to a private TV channel said, there are multiple factors that delayed the launching of Bhasha Dam construction, some of the major hindrances were the process of land acquisition, technical engineering capacity, funds issue and political interference. He said it also took a lot of time to resettle local residents of the site and provide them appropriate compensation. Above all, political lobbying and fifth-generation warfare affected the tasks of this mega project but with the blessing of Almighty Allah, we overcame all the obstacles now, said Lt Gen Muzamil Hussain.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan also played a key role in solving different issues of dam construction work, WAPDA chairman gave some credit to the Supreme Court along with other state departments. WAPDA chairman said the dam construction will hopefully be completed by the end of 2028, it will take three years to only build a diversion canal and two diversion tunnels, the direction of the river would have to be changed in this regard.

He further said that those nations can never progress that become scared while taking difficult decisions. He said since 1990, electricity is being generated using imported fuel which caused an increase in current deficit account, and put pressure on the rupee; as a result, the country’s economy deteriorated. “Diamir Bhasha Dam will be built on the water of River Indus, no imported fuel will be used, in this way, there would be no surge in Global Warming,” Imran Khan said. Prime Minister was hopeful that with the construction of the dam, local people’s destiny would be changed, he also announced to build more dams in the future to generate low-cost hydel power.

Diamir Bhasha is the dam for which former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar had launched a fund-raising drive, every governmental and private department took part in contributing towards the dam-building initiative. According to chairman WAPDA, Pakistan government has a share of 26% in terms of dam construction. WAPDA has also contributed 106 billion rupees for the country’s mega project.

Benefits of Diamir Bhasha Dam:

The Bhasha dam will aid in the improvement of the Cement, Steel and construction industry of the country, it would create about 16000 new jobs, said Prime Minister’s special advisor on Information and Broadcasting Lt Gen (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa, during a press briefing. Electricity generated from the project would be environmental-friendly because no fuel will be used, but the water of River Indus would be utilized as an alternative to producing low-cost hydel power energy.

Dam water would be enough to meet the water requirements for agriculture during the dry spells in Sindh and KPK provinces. Besides, it would support to country’s weakening economy, electricity shortfall would be controlled. In the case of flash floods during the Monsoon season, such big dams play a significant role, that floodwater is stored for future use as well.

Generating low-cost electricity from water available in the country instead of coal and furnace oil imported from other counties would be in favour of the country’s economy and it would not affect climate change as well.

Dam Opposition Factors:

On the day of the launching ceremony of the Diamir Bhasha Dam, India launched a protest campaign and objected to the dam’s construction in the region of Gilgit-Baltistan, it also recorded protest with China on this matter. But China and Pakistan rejected India’s unwarranted objection. China and Pakistan share economic cooperation for the well-being of their people and China is the stakeholder in building the giant project of Pakistan, it will be extending its technical and financial support.

World Sindhi Congress is a sub-nationalist human rights organization based in the United Kingdom, US, and Canada, had also raised objection on the construction of Diamir Bhasha Dam, it said instead of generating electricity from the water of River Indus, Pakistan should work on generating electricity from nuclear and solar resources.

Big dams have always benefited people around the globe, their crucial and strategic role in the interest of nations can never be denied. Pakistan is keen to build more dams in the future.