Tweet
Below is a 3D model of Gomal Zam dam.
-
-
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government`s repeated requests to the Water and Power Development Authority for speeding up construction of Gomal Zam dam project`s irrigation system have not elicited desired response, according to official sources.
The project, said concerned officials, was most likely to miss its scheduled completion date of February 2013. Funds for the irrigation component could not be arranged in time, rendering the execution of irrigation system at a slow pace.
“Only 25 per cent of the irrigation system could be completed by the end of November 2011,” said a well-placed KP government official.
According to an official document available with Dawn , out of the four components of the under-execution project, including dam and spillway, diversion tunnel, irrigation system, and hydropower component, work on three segments – other than the irrigation system – has either been completed or is near completion.
The timely completion of the hydel power generation components has left the provincial authorities to doubt Wapda`s priorities vis-Ã -vis the Gomal Zam dam project.
“The components that are of their interest (dam and hydro power generation) would be ready well in time, whereas, the irrigation system that is of our (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa`s) interest appears to be low on their priority list,” said a development planner of the provincial government.
Involving a total water storage capacity of 1.140 million acre feet (MAF), the project would generate 17.4MW electricity. Besides, it would cater to the irrigation water requirements of thousands of farmers in Dera Ismail Khan and Tanks districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
An irrigation department official said the project was important for the provincial government as it would irrigate over 191,000 acres in D.I. Khan and Tank districts.
Farmers in Tank and D.I. Khan, said Iqbal Khan Miankhel, a D.I. Khan based farmer, met their irrigation water requirements through rainwater or floodwater, both of which, he added, were unpredictable sources.
The Gomal Zam project`s irrigation system, said the official, would benefit the farmers as a 63-kilometre long canal and 369km long distributaries would be constructed to irrigate cultivable land.
The non-completion of irrigation system, said the official, would delay the benefit to the farming community.
“The provincial government has taken up the issue with Wapda many times, but to no avail,” said the official, adding, “even Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, too, took up the matter directly with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, but that too has not worked”.
According to the official document, 24.56 per cent work of the irrigation system stood completed by June 30, 2011. Wapda, said an official, had set a target of completing the remaining 75.44 per cent in the 2011-12 financial year.
“But, by no means, the authority appears to be in a position to achieve the ambitious target,” said the official.
Officials said that Wapda used fragile law and order situation in the project area as a justification for the delay.
“But the security situation could not be put forth as cogent reason when you see at the rate of work completed on the dam and spillway as 98.55 per cent of the work has been completed,” said the official.
Gomal Zam dam is being built on Gomal River in troubled South Waziristan Agency. The project had initially been launched in July 2002 and was scheduled to be completed in September 2006.
However, work on it remained suspended for a long time due to volatile situation in the project area, particularly, after two Chinese engineers, deputed to work on the project site, were kidnapped in 2004 by Taliban. -
Gomal Zam Dam to be operational by Q3 of 2012
* Road and other infrastructure work has been completed
* Electricity produced could power 25,000 homes
Zeeshan Javaid
ISLAMABAD: The long-awaited Gomal Zam Dam, having a power generation capacity of 17.4 megawatt (MW), will be operational by the third quarter of 2012.
Sources close to Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Shakeel Durani revealed that work on the infrastructure of the mega project, situated in the tribal belt of South Waziristan, has been completed. Sources added that 85 percent work on the installation of two large turbines, imported from Italy, has also been completed.
Sources further maintained that water is being stored in the pond of the dam, while power generation from this particular hydel source would start by the third quarter of 2012.
However, work on the edifice of irrigation channels linked to Gomal Zam is still in progress, but more than 55 percent has also been completed on this phase of the project.
Sources claimed that after the completion of irrigation channels, the barren land of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts, down town areas of Waziristan belt could be irrigated, which would help in habitation and development of the area.
Sources in the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) said that road infrastructure surrounding the Gomal Zam, including 108-kilometre long Tank-Jundola-Makeen and 120-km long Tank-Khajoori-Kach Road have been completed, which will help eliminate security issues around the dam site.
To closely monitor the construction site, authorities have urged the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) high-ups to vacate Gomal Zam Dam colony in Tank, so that staff posted at the dam site can be provided accommodation.
Gomal Zam dam, which is being constructed about 35 kilometres from Tank in Khajoori Kach area of South Waziristan, will irrigate 163,086 acres barren land of Tank and DI Khan districts thus opening up the area for development.
Experts say that with the upgraded infrastructure, the Gomal Zam would have 1.14 million acre feet (MAF) gross live storage of water, and 0.360 MAF of perennial and flood flow of River Gomal to provide irrigation water to barren lands.
When the project was first approved in August 2001, the estimated cost was $136.2 million. However it could not be completed by the April 2006 deadline in the wake of kidnapping incidents and the murder of a Chinese engineer on October 14 2004.
The dam is of the roller compacted concrete gravity variety and has a height of 437 ft while measuring 492 ft in length. A barrage, which will be built at Kot Murtaza, is also part of the project. The 65 km long main canal, having an average discharge of 572cusecs and 18 distributaries, is also being constructed for irrigation and water distribution system.
According to a communiqué issue by WAPDA, Chairman Shakeel Durani said that the dam would significantly contribute towards socio-economic development of the country, especially Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as the project will ensure availability of water for irrigated agriculture, help control floods and provide low-cost hydel electricity.
During his visit to the project site in South Waziristan Agency, Durani said that water storage capacity of 1.14 MAF would help to irrigate 163,000 acres of land, and would help counter the risk of floods.
Additionally, the project, which had a generation capacity of 17.4 MW, will also contribute 91 million units of electricity annually to the national grid. Durani added that this amount of electricity is sufficient to supply about 25,000 households in the area.Comment
Comment