Diamer Bhasha Dam. What a controversial plan

The Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan (WAPDA) has announced that the contract for the construction of Pakistan's largest Diamer-Bhasha Dam has been awarded to the Pakistan Army-run Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and a Chinese state-owned company. Power is awarded to a China partner.

According to the press release, the construction of the dam is estimated at Rs 1406.5 billion. Announcing the commencement of work on the construction of the dam immediately, it was stated that the construction of the dam will be completed in the year 2028.

Similarly, an agreement worth Rs. 442 billion was also signed with the partners of the two companies for the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam project diversion system, main dam, access bridge and 21 MW Tangier hydropower project. Are

According to WAPDA, a contract for consultancy services was also awarded for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam project. The consultancy services contract worth Rs. 27.18 billion has been awarded to a partner named Diamer Bhasha Consultants Group. The consultant group includes 12 companies, with Nespak as its parent company.

Diamer-Bhasha Dam project sources said that Rs 175 billion would be allocated for land acquisition and payment for the dam, resettlement of victims and local development.

Rs. 791 billion has been allocated for Diamer-Bhasha Dam for power generation and other needs. Rs 480 billion is earmarked for the construction of Tangier Hydropower Project.

Retired Lt. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information, claimed in his tweet that the project would create 16,500 jobs and generate 4,500 megawatts of electricity for Pakistanis. He termed the commencement of construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam as great good news.

Pakistan considers Diamer-Bhasha Dam essential for electricity and water. Pakistan has not built any major dam since the 1960s

Diamer-Bhasha Dam long-delayed project
The Diamer-Bhasha Dam project has been under consideration for decades. The project was first considered in the early 1980s.

According to WAPDA sources, the feasibility report of the dam was first prepared in 2004 while work on its feasibility and design was done again between 2005 and 2008.

In 2008, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, which includes representatives from all four provinces and the federation, formally approved the construction of the dam. It was called a plan that no one objected to.

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam project has been inaugurated more than once at regular official level with the participation of heads of state from different eras.

The project was first inaugurated in 1998 by then-Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. In 2006, then-President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf re-announced the construction of the dam.

On this occasion, the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz inaugurated the dam once again. The Bhasha Diya Mir Dam was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in 2011.

Obstacles to the project
Part of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam will be built in Gilgit-Baltistan and India has been claiming its right to the Gilgit-Baltistan region for a long time.

According to WAPDA sources, the cost of the dam in 2008 was about ارب 12 billion. Pakistan could not provide this huge amount of money from its own resources, so it was expected that the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Aga Khan Network would provide capital, but with the launch of the dam project, India raised objections to the project. Were

International institutions temporarily halted investment in the construction of the dam due to India's objections, but in 2012/13, despite the efforts of the then government, the international institutions provided funding from India to the NOC. Was conditional.

In 2014, then-Finance Minister Ishaq Dar claimed that international organizations were ready to finance the dam project, but in practice this did not happen. In 2015 alone, the government claimed that it had started acquiring land with Rs. 5.5 billion from its own resources, but local victims did not confirm the receipt of the money.

In 2016, then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formally approved the economic plan for the project and ordered that work on the project begin before the end of 2017.

In 2017, talks were held with China to include the project in the C-Pack. Regular tenders were also issued for this but the tender was later canceled due to strict Chinese conditions on the project.

No conditions were provided for the terms offered by China for the project and Diamer-Bhasha Dam is still not included in the C-Pack project.

In July 2018, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Saqib Nisar, ordered the government of Pakistan to immediately start other projects, including the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, to address the water and power shortage in the country.

He had remarked in court that he would work for the dam projects after retirement.

The Supreme Court and the government of Pakistan had appealed for a separate fundraising campaign for the dam projects. According to the details of the donation campaign given on the website of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a total of Rs. 1,738,194 has been raised while investments have also been made from this amount.