WAPDA reviews water & power projects

Lahore: Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Shakeel Durrani has directed his officers to speed up the resolution of the issues that surface during the implementation of projects.

Durrani was presiding over a quarterly meeting of senior officials at WAPDA House. The meeting reviewed the progress on the Water Wing’s water and hydropower projects.

Durrani said that the problems that emerge during the projects’ implementation should be resolved at the earliest to provide swift relief to the people. He said the need to complete the projects swiftly had become more important in view of the country’s increasing need for water and electricity.

The WAPDA chairman appreciated the progress in the pace of work on the Mangla Dam Raising Project, and the construction of Kurram Tangi Dam, Gomal Zam Dam and the Greater Thal Canal. He said the work on other projects should be sped up, but not by compromising the quality of the work.

The WAPDA officials told Durrani that the Mangla Dam Raising Project would be completed in September and the filling of water could be started in this year’s rainy season. They also said that the Satpara Dam construction project was nearing completion and the filling of its reservoir would be started from May 10. They added that the three high-head hydropower projects, commonly known as Khawar projects, would start contributing a total of 323 MW of energy to the National Grid from next year.

The meeting also discussed the progress in the feasibility studies and engineering designs of various hydropower projects. These projects are expected to generate more than 25,000 MW of energy. Many of these studies are at the advanced stage.
The officials discussed how much water was available in the reservoirs and how much power could be generated from it. Durrani told the officials concerned to speed up the repair work at various hydel stations, particularly the Warsak and Jabban hydropower stations.