ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit the site of Dasu Dam today (Friday) to review the progress of construction.
On the occasion, the prime minister will also talk to foreign engineers and workers engaged with the project.
The first phase of Dasu dam will be completed by 2025 which will add 2,160MW of electricity to the national grid. The capacity will increase to 4320MW after completion of the second phase by 2029.
The construction work on Dasu dam has been accelerated by the present government to ensure better utilisation of the country’s water resources.
The large hydroelectric gravity dam is currently under construction on the Indus River near Dasu in Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is developed by Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority, as a key component of the company’s Water Vision 2025.
The federal government has allocated Rs56.51bn for Dasu Hydropower Project among the development projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 2021-22 development programmes. The project is being built by China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that government started the construction of ten dams and hydropower projects which will be completed by 2028.
On May 19, the prime minister visited Mohmand district to oversee the progress on the construction of Mohmand Dam. He said the construction of the dams will generate cheap electricity will also make eight million acres of land cultivable and ensure food security.
He regretted that despite having the large potential, no dams were constructed in Pakistan after the decade of 1960s in the last 50 years.
He said that China had constructed 80,000 dams including 5,000 big dams while Pakistan had only two large dams.
He said that 10 dams including Bhasha and Dasu would be constructed under the vision of Clean and Green Pakistan initiative and in view of the climate changes.
With the growing population, the prime minister said the construction of dams and water reservoirs is a must to tackle the challenges of food security.