ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday principally approved the financing plan of Diamer-Basha Dam.
As per the plan, funds for the Dam will be provided from Public Sector Development Plan (PSDP) while Water and Power Development Authority would also generate funds through generation companies (Gencos).
The prime minister while approving the plan directed the secretaries of ministers of Water and Power, Planning and Development and Finance to complete the financial proposals as soon as possible so that work on the Dam could be started next year.
The Diamer-Basha Dam, of which construction was approved by Council of Common Interests (CCI) in 2009, could store 8.1 MAF water. As per the initial estimate, the Dam will generate 4500 megawatts of electricity.
The Prime Minister hailed the efforts of Ministry of Water and Power and G-B Government for acquiring land for the dam.
It is to be mentioned here that efforts to finance it through multilateral donors have been taking a longer time and Pakistan needs to enhance its storage capacity urgently to meet the challenge of becoming a water scarce country.
The storage capacity in the existing Dams is fast deleting due to silting and the country losing on its agricultural production after every few years due to a dry season, needs to be overcome by constructing more storages.
