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PESHAWAR: Recent flash floods in the country have once again triggered the debate in the Punjab in favour of construction of Kalabagh dam, altogether ignoring other projects, which are far effective than this controversial scheme.
One such project is Katzarah dam, which will not only provide 15,000 megawatt (MW) power compared to the Kalabagh dam that will produce only 1,450MW power, but with an additional 2,000MW thermal power, making a total of 3,450MW; the former also has water storage capacity six times more than Kalabagh dam.
During a chat with The News, former chairman of Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Engr Fatehullah Gandapur said besides being politically controversial, the Kalabagh dam was technically infeasible because of its TOR given to the project consultants. He said the country direly needed dams for power generation and the recent floods had increased the demand for water reservoirs that could control super floods.
About Katzarah dam, he said, the project that would be constructed on River Indus near Skardu would be unique, as it would have the narrowest dam site across the globe — 300 feet at the bed level.
Gandapur said Skardu valleys had the soil highly vulnerable to erosion in the world and the major portion of silt came from this area. “If Katzarah dam is constructed, it will act as watershed management dam to prevent silt flow in the Indus water. The dam will have a lifespan of 1,000 years and would increase the life of Bhasha dam from 80 to 800 years and that of Tarbela Dam by about 70 years as the silt would remain in the Skardu valley,” he added.
The former Irsa chief said the Wapda authorities promised before Nisar Memon Committee to submit the feasibility report on Katzarah dam by September 2005, no action was, however, being taken in this regard. He feared that during the recent floods Tarbela Dam might probably have silt up by about one million-acre feet, which has further shortened its life.
When pointed out that the dam would submerge cultural sites and also displace people from the Skardu valley, Gandapur said that keeping in view the enormous benefits the country would get from the dam one had to compromise on certain issues. “About 2.2 million people were displaced due to construction of Three Gorges Dam in China, but the Chinese government first built homes for the people and then shifted the population,” he said, adding that the Pakistan government should first make alternative arrangements for the would-be displaced people and then shift them.
Replying to another query, he said the Wapda authorities created a status quo for their vested interests during the last 36 years. He said the Punjab wanted to build Kalabagh dam to achieve a specific objective of taking a high-level left bank canal 170 miles along with 15,000 cusecs discharge to feed Jhelum River system.
Another dam, which can also be a flood control dam, is Guroh Dop dam on River Panjkora, the main tributary of River Swat, which would help control floods in River Kabul. Eng Fatehullah said the dam would have a huge storage capacity of 8.5 maf, which is more than Kalabagh and Bhasha dams and would greatly help control super floods. He said the dam would mitigate floods in River Kabul, which would reduce flood discharge in River Indus.
Referring to the government decision of constructing Munda dam, he said the dam was basically a power dam on run-of-the-river. He said Munda dam was not a flood control dam as it has gross storage capacity of 1.29 maf and live storage of only 0.6 maf. The dam would generate 740MW power. He expressed doubt that how a 0.6 maf storage could mitigate a super flood of 400,000 cusecs in River Kabul.
Fatehullah urged the government to take into consideration Katzarah and Guroh Dop dams, which, if constructed, would not only help in controlling super floods but would also resolve the energy crisis.
Kalabagh dam technically unfeasible: ex-Irsa chief
One such project is Katzarah dam, which will not only provide 15,000 megawatt (MW) power compared to the Kalabagh dam that will produce only 1,450MW power, but with an additional 2,000MW thermal power, making a total of 3,450MW; the former also has water storage capacity six times more than Kalabagh dam.
During a chat with The News, former chairman of Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Engr Fatehullah Gandapur said besides being politically controversial, the Kalabagh dam was technically infeasible because of its TOR given to the project consultants. He said the country direly needed dams for power generation and the recent floods had increased the demand for water reservoirs that could control super floods.
About Katzarah dam, he said, the project that would be constructed on River Indus near Skardu would be unique, as it would have the narrowest dam site across the globe — 300 feet at the bed level.
Gandapur said Skardu valleys had the soil highly vulnerable to erosion in the world and the major portion of silt came from this area. “If Katzarah dam is constructed, it will act as watershed management dam to prevent silt flow in the Indus water. The dam will have a lifespan of 1,000 years and would increase the life of Bhasha dam from 80 to 800 years and that of Tarbela Dam by about 70 years as the silt would remain in the Skardu valley,” he added.
The former Irsa chief said the Wapda authorities promised before Nisar Memon Committee to submit the feasibility report on Katzarah dam by September 2005, no action was, however, being taken in this regard. He feared that during the recent floods Tarbela Dam might probably have silt up by about one million-acre feet, which has further shortened its life.
When pointed out that the dam would submerge cultural sites and also displace people from the Skardu valley, Gandapur said that keeping in view the enormous benefits the country would get from the dam one had to compromise on certain issues. “About 2.2 million people were displaced due to construction of Three Gorges Dam in China, but the Chinese government first built homes for the people and then shifted the population,” he said, adding that the Pakistan government should first make alternative arrangements for the would-be displaced people and then shift them.
Replying to another query, he said the Wapda authorities created a status quo for their vested interests during the last 36 years. He said the Punjab wanted to build Kalabagh dam to achieve a specific objective of taking a high-level left bank canal 170 miles along with 15,000 cusecs discharge to feed Jhelum River system.
Another dam, which can also be a flood control dam, is Guroh Dop dam on River Panjkora, the main tributary of River Swat, which would help control floods in River Kabul. Eng Fatehullah said the dam would have a huge storage capacity of 8.5 maf, which is more than Kalabagh and Bhasha dams and would greatly help control super floods. He said the dam would mitigate floods in River Kabul, which would reduce flood discharge in River Indus.
Referring to the government decision of constructing Munda dam, he said the dam was basically a power dam on run-of-the-river. He said Munda dam was not a flood control dam as it has gross storage capacity of 1.29 maf and live storage of only 0.6 maf. The dam would generate 740MW power. He expressed doubt that how a 0.6 maf storage could mitigate a super flood of 400,000 cusecs in River Kabul.
Fatehullah urged the government to take into consideration Katzarah and Guroh Dop dams, which, if constructed, would not only help in controlling super floods but would also resolve the energy crisis.
Kalabagh dam technically unfeasible: ex-Irsa chief
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