Cherah Dam project awaits approval

Islamabad: A proposal for the construction of Cherah Dam is to be presented for approval before the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting due to take place in Islamabad on September 18.

A project of the Punjab Government, the dam’s capital cost is Rs 5307.22 and it is to come up near Cherah Village in Islamabad.

Officials said that the need for a dam has arisen because the storage capacity of Rawal Dam, the main source of domestic water supply to Rawalpindi, has depleted due to sedimentation and increased demand for water.

They pointed out that there were only two solutions to overcome the problem either the Rawal Dam be desilted or an alternate dam be built. However, the Government of Punjab is keen on having a new one constructed.

The dam’s site is located across Soan River and its total catchments area is 225 square kilometers. The mean annual rainfall in the project area is 1623mm with the dam having a height of 131.2 feet and would be 6750 ft in length.

The completion period of the project is five years and once ready it would provide an assured drinking water supply of 15 million gallons per day (MGD) to both Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

A sum of Rs 100 million has already been allocated for the project under Punjab’s ADP 2007-08 and it would be executed by the Small Dams Organisation and Punjab’s Irrigation and Power Department (PIPD).

On the other hand, the operation and maintenance would also be the responsibility of these two agencies. The Small Dams Organisation was established in 1973 within the PIPD.

The annual recurring expenditure of the project would be Rs 43.55 million while the dam would provide 5475 million gallons per annum.

About 50 small dams have been commissioned in Punjab so far with a total canal command area of around 24,500 ha while 108 suitable sites for small and medium sized dams in future have been identified.

Among the key capital cost components of PC I, a sum of Rs 1129.996 million is to be spent on land acquisition and resettlement and another Rs 1499.447 million on the main dam.