In this atmosphere of anarchy a good news came across yesterday that Mohmand Dam, located 37.6 kilometers away from the provincial capital Peshawar has been diverted which will provide abundant water, the project will also provide clean water to Peshawar city what citizens have been desiring for decades.
It may be noted that another large water storage in Pakistan has been added when the difficult phase of water conversion at Mohmand Dam project, the fifth in the world in terms of height and concrete construction and Pakistan’s first, has been completed. According to the official data work is going on simultaneously at 12 sites of the project, which started in 2019. The 800 megawatt dam is 35 percent complete, while the construction will be completed by the end of 2027. Covering an area of 8787 hectares, the dam has the capacity to store 1.29 million hectare feet of water, while with its help the cheapest electricity is being produced at an estimated cost of Rs. 9. The construction cost of this dam is Rs. It also has a bearing and production capacity of three billion units. Development work on concrete face rock fill Mohmand Dam is going on rapidly.
The project started in 2019 has made great progress and after changing the direction of the river, 35% of the work has been completed. During the briefing regarding the project at Mohmand Dam site, Project Director and General Manager WAPDA Asim Rauf Khan and Chief Engineer. Faseeh ullah said that one tunnel of the dam has been completed while the work on the other is in progress.
The dam will provide 300 million gallons of water to the city of Peshawar to protect the area from floods and 60 thousand hectares of land will be irrigated. Sixty percent of the local population will be employed in the construction of the dam while only 87 families have been affected in its construction and 99 percent of the area i.e. 8688 hectares has been acquired. The price of the dollar was 115 rupees, now there will be a difference in the cost of the project on which the work has been started.
It is hoped that the said project will be completed within its term. The citizens of Peshawar are especially hopeful about the above project because for the past three decades political and non-political governments have been making loud claims about different projects of drinking clean water from different dams for the residents of Peshawar.
So far none of the proposed projects have been implemented. The existing water supply system in Peshawar is very rotten due to which there has been an increase in jaundice and polio along with various gastrointestinal diseases. It should be remembered that in the survey reports conducted by international and local organizations in different eras, the water of Peshawar has been declared highly polluted.
On the other hand due to the resettlement of tribal people who migrated from the terror-stricken districts in the provincial capital, drinking water has become more scarce due to which the citizens often look around for clean drinking water.
Therefore it is the responsibility of the present provincial government to take steps to supply water from Mohmand Dam to populated city of Peshawar so that clean and abundant water can be available to the residents here. It is hoped that the provincial government will contact the federal government in this regard so that when this project is completed, water supply to the residents of Peshawar can also be ensured.
If this time yet again the people are tricked on mere promises, it will reduce the popularity of the government and the responsibility of which will fall on the rulers themselves.
