By Muhammad Luqman
Prime Minister Imran Khan performed the groundbreaking ceremony of 800-megawatt Mohmand Dam Hydro power Project in North Western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa on Thursday.
The Mohmand Dam is being constructed on the Swat River and it will be completed at a cost of Rs183 billion by 2024. A sum of Rs2bn has been allocated for the project in federal budget’s Public Sector Development Programme .
The dam has the capacity to store 1.2 million acre feet of water. Upon completion, it will generate some 800MW of electricity.
The much-awaited inauguration ceremony of the Mohmand Dam was to be held in January, but postponed amid reports that had emerged of the award of the contract of the hydropower project on a single-bid basis to a consortium of three companies led by Descon, a company previously owned by Advisor to Prime Minister, Abdul Razak Dawood in which he and his family members hold ownership stakes.
WAPDA has already mobilised machinery on site to commence work on this mega project of national importance.
On the Tarbela-V (T-V) too, the WAPDA would begin work with the support of the World Bank, as the bank did in the construction of Tarbela-IV, which has been completed and generating electricity and revenue of Rs30 billion a year.
Contract for construction has been awarded to joint venture of M/S CGGC of China and Descon of Pakistan.
