Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said that the completion of the Diamer-Bhasha dam would serve as a future lifeline for the country’s economy, augmenting the power generation besides boosting agriculture activities.
Speaking after a briefing over the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam, PM Shehbaz said that the 4500 MW project was of immense importance for the country’s economy and stressed that it should be completed ahead of its construction timeline of 2029.
“I insist on going ahead of its timeline of 2029 and completing it by 2026-27. It will be a miracle if we achieve it. Nothing is impossible in this world. We can achieve it if we advance in unison,” he added.
The prime minister said that the project was initiated by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2016 and funds were provided by the PML-N government for the land acquisition.
Read more: Country facing load-shedding due to previous government’s incompetence: PM Shehbaz
The prime minister said that it was a gigantic task and assured all-out support from the federal government to complete the project as early as possible.
He also suggested encouraging international investors for future fundraising.
He also announced the construction of a 13km Babusar top tunnel to ensure year’s round traffic flow and asked the authorities to submit a study report to his office.
The prime minister said that what happened during the last four years was unfortunate.
He said early construction of the dam would be a good omen and a milestone in the country’s history. He regretted that out of 125-130MAF water, they were only saving and utilizing 25-30MAF water annually.
The prime minister observed that it would be a big success if they saved water and mentioned that the Diamer-Bhasha dam would play a vital role in water storage capacity.
It would save the Tarbella dam from deposits of sediments and enhance its life span by 35 years, he added.
The dam would control flash floods, enhance agricultural productivity, besides create jobs opportunities in the area, leading to economic prosperity, he said.
The prime minister said that he would not go into the past four years, but what happened with the power sector was indeed an injustice to the nation.
Despite a power generation capacity of about 6000-7000MW, the gas-fired and oil-run power plants had been shut, he added.
As Khadim-e-Pakistan, PM Shehbaz said he would not lie before the nation or twist the truth, but facts should come forward.
The prime minister said the area lacked health facilities and recalled that he, as chief minister of Punjab, had donated a scanning machine for Gilgit.
The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to submit a report within a week for the construction of a fully-equipped hospital in the area to provide the latest health facilities to the population of the area.
Earlier, WAPDA Chairman Lt. Gen. (retd) Muzzamil Hussain briefed the prime minister on the ongoing project.
The chairman of WAPDA apprised that three mega hydel projects Diamer-Bhasha, Mohmand, and Dasu dams worth Rs2.6trillion were being completed.
He said the Diamer-Bhasha dam would have a storage capacity of 8.1 MAF with live storage of 6.4MAF and irrigate 1.23 million acres of land. It will generate 18,100 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of power annually.
The project would be completed in 2029 despite different challenges, he said adding, about 16,500 jobs would be created.
He said the project was of paramount importance for the country’s food security.
Later, the prime minister also took an aerial review of the Karakoram Highway, the 3MW Thuk power project, and the Chilas cadet college.
