Need of Dams and its construction; difficulties for government: Pakistan is one of the driest countries in the world, with average 230 mm rain in a year. Its economy mainly depends upon Indus River and its tributaries which comprises upon almost 180bn cubic meters water in a year which come from the melting of Himalaya range. Due to heavy agricultural development in 19th century and development in irrigation, improved the situation temporarily but after partition water distribution between two dominions convert into great controversy, which led to the Indus water treaty (Karachi 19th sep 1960) (bet Nehru & Ayub with World bank) and Pakistan lost water and right of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi. Now mainly Indus river supply water to lands of Pakistan including Jhelum and Chenab, (which allow 75 % to Pakistan of total water of Indus river system) another problem was that Pakistan receiving water from western sides tributaries while irrigated land situated in eastern portion of the country therefore Pakistan built Tarbela Dam on Indus river (largest earth filled dam) (in Haripur KPK 1976) with a large irrigation system, but it was not the only solution of the problem of the scarcity of water. Another problem in those days was rise levels of underground water which further controlled through tube wells. World Bank stated that Pakistan do not have water for delta. Available water is less than requirement of irrigated land. According to the report of world Bank Indus river system has a complex ecosystem, when water direction changed artificially so whole setup disturbed specially the sedimentation system completely destroyed and salt levels have dramatically changed, to encounter such problems huge investments are required which are not available. New dams require huge investment and infrastructure, in which a complex system involved started from investment through donor agencies to local bureaucratic system that further make slow to the development of new dams. Dams store water for difficult days. In US & Australia, there is capacity to store 5000 cubic meter of water for per capita, it is 2200 in China, but in Pakistan it is only 150 cubic meters per capita storage capacity of water. On Covarado river & maray river there is a system to store water of 900days. In South Africa water of red river can store up to 500 days, India can save water of her rivers up to 120 to 200 day, while Pakistan can only store 30 days of water which is very dangerous situation. On the other hand sedimentation also destroying the capacity of dams in Pakistan. Through hydropower projects in dams of Pakistan, electricity can produce 50000 Megawatts of electricity but so far only 14% of its capacity is being produced. It has been a great debate that construction of dams will reduce the supply in lower region provinces especially to Sindh, but it is not true Dams will improve the supply of water during the scarcity period of water, the pact of 1991 between provinces is the best way to solve this issue. To provide year round protection to the Indus delta, the flood waters flowing below Kotri need to be stored in dams and the required dose released every month. Mangla and Tarbela dams are unable to store all the flood waters, only Kalabagh dam can do that. The degradation of the Indus delta can be stopped only by building more dams. The choice is to build Kalabagh dam or wait 15 years for Bhasha dam. While Mangla dam replaced the waters lost to India, Tarbela dam increased canal supplies by 25 percent, with which Sindh was able to cultivate 20 lakh additional acres, and Kalabagh dam will add a further 6.1 maf. Under the Water Accord Sindh’s share in all future dams has been increased by decreasing Punjab’s share. It would be equal share for both despite the vast disparity in population and in the area under cultivation. hydropower projects pose numerous technical and economic challenges to the investor and developer. Needs basic infrastructural facilities and connectivity to transmission network. Detailed studies of topography, hydrology, site geology and engineering geological conditions are required. Hydropower project thus involves high capital cost and long gestation period. Investigations and preparing a bankable feasibility report of international standard are required. Due to these constraints and risks, hydropower development is undertaken the world over either in public sector or by large utility companies. Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project ROR 2002 (7km away from Tarbela): is a 1,450 Megawatt run-of-the-river hydropower project on the Indus River in Pakistan. It is the last major edition in energy in 2002. The World Bank classed it "A" for adequate attention to environmental and social issues. The project took about 10 years and $2.2 billion to complete. Mirani Dam (completed in 2006) is a medium-size multi-purpose concrete-faced rock-filled dam located on the Dasht River south of the Central Makran Range in Kech District in Balochistan. It successfully withstood an extreme flood event in June 2007. Mirani Dam is the largest dam in the world in terms of volume for flood protection with a floodstock of 588,690 cubic hectometer. Gomal Zam Dam (completed in 2012) is a multi-purpose gravity dam on the Gomal River in South Waziristan Agency, Pakistan. The purpose of the dam is irrigation, flood control and hydroelectric power generation (17MW) (not in working). Construction began in 2002 and the dam was complete in 2012. The power plant is expected to be operational in 2013. KalaBag Dam: Sindh needs Kalabagh dam more than Punjab and not having the suitable groundwater that Punjab has. The World Bank has so far been reluctant to commit funds for the $12 billion Diamer-Bhasha project apparently because of behind-the-scenes opposition from India. The project promises 4,500MW of cheap electricity and 8.5 million acre feet (MAF) of water. The World Bank has reportedly offered funding to induce Pakistan to take up the Dasu power project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and delay for 10 years the strategically more important Diamer-Bhasha dam in Gilgit-Baltistan. Neelam Jehlum Hydropower project (ROR) AJK 969MW Project. (now estimated 274.882bn Rs project will be completed in 2015). Prime minister Pakistan Nawaz Sharif taking personal interest in its completion. Under the power sector reforms that began in 1997, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) was unbundled and vertically disintegrated into independent generation companies (Gencos); distribution companies (DISCOs) and a transmission company (NTDC). The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority was created as the industry regulator. why all governments since 1997 have been reluctant to complete the power-sector reforms. Because the imposition of value-added tax and agriculture income tax, will not come without a great deal of pain; a major reason why all governments since 1997 have been reluctant to complete the power-sector reforms. Even if the new government of Nawaz Sharif is able to remove all hurdles, the reforms will take a minimum of two painful years to complete. Immediately after that, Pakistan will be able to turn to the most plausible source of financing for its energy plan: private capital. In a distressed world economy, investors seek watertight guarantees. Power plants commissioned under the 2002 power generation policy have, in recent years, faced frequent and prolonged shutdowns on account of fuel shortages — natural gas and furnace oil. the imposition of value-added tax and agriculture income tax this will not come without a great deal of pain; a major reason why all governments since 1997 have been reluctant to complete the power-sector reforms. World Bank says that it is very easy to distribute water amongst the provinces but corruption and political influences creating hurdles in the development of the dams in Pakistan. Situation is almost clear regarding importance of dams after the Indus water treaty, and the water accord 1991 between provinces, which make it clear that what share each province, will get, it was great success. M. Nofil Safwan 1300 words 6-8-2013
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 16:26:11 +0000
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