Govt making efforts to generate environment friendly electricity: PM

TARBELA: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that the government has decided to build 10 dams within 10 years with a view to averting an acute shortage of water in the country and protecting upcoming generations.

“We have decided to construct 10 dams within 10 years, including Dasu and Diamer-Basha Dams. We may face a water shortage in future and might be unable to cope with the needs of people and farmers, unless we have water reservoirs,” the prime minister said this while addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of Tarbela-5 (T5) expansion project.

The World Bank (WB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank would give the financial aid to complete the project worth $807 million in three years.

The project is aimed at protecting the Tarbela Dam against silting besides helping generate 1,530MW electricity and provide 1.34 billion units of power to the national grid.

The construction of Tarbela-5 expansion project would also generate 3,000 jobs and would enhance power production capacity of Tarbela Hydropower Project from 4,888MW to 6,418MW. It would also play an important role in dealing with the country’s needs of water, food and energy. Under the project, the water supply for irrigation purposes would also continue.

The PM who already unveiled the plaque said that the project is aimed at helping Pakistan may achieve clean energy and make its contributions to battle global warming.

Speaking about the latest research, the PM said that the world weather was turning hot day by day, while making the world face such issues like forest fires as they have already been witnessed in the US, Turkey, Greece and other countries.

Moreover, unprecedented floods and extremely-hot weather like that of Jacobabad are a result of global warming. The PM said that the generation of clean energy would help mitigate effects of climate change.

He expressed his determination to make Pakistan a country with its clean sources like hydro, solar or wind instead of fuel.

Besides providing clean energy, the Tarbela-5 would also protect the dam against silting just four kilometers from the reservoir, he added. Moreover, the construction of Dassu and Diamer-Bhasha dams would also help slow down the silt.

Mr Khan said that unfortunately, the previous governments had not constructed such water reservoirs as they had just focused on their five-year tenure instead of the long-term planning.

He told the audience that the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam was decided in 1984 but was not constructed for the long-term planning.

The PM said that the previous governments had just signed big contracts, while making the country pay exorbitantly without thinking about whether electricity was consumed or not.

Consumers, especially the industry, had to bear the cost because of the high power tariff, he said, adding that the industry could not compete with the world market until the government paid the subsidy.

He said China was making progress just because of long-term planning. He said that Pakistan’s rivers got 80 per cent of water inflow within three to four months and the construction of reservoirs was extremely essential to store water supply throughout the year.

He hoped that constructions of both Mohmand Dam and Diamer-Bhasha Dam which would be completed by 2025 and 2028 respectively would ensure the protection of future generations.

He appreciated the performance of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) chairman Lt-Gen (Retd) Muzammil Hussain to continue the construction work of dams despite the Covid-related restrictions.