DIAMIR, Pakistan: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday visited the construction site of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam mega project, the second mega multi-purpose dam after Mohmand Dam hydropower project which has been started in a span of one year.
During his visit, the prime minister was briefed on the progress of the work on Diamer-Bhasha Dam.
The Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and the Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General Faiz Hameed, and the Chairman CPEC Authority Lt General (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa were also present on the occasion.
The Diamer-Basha Dam project will stimulate economic activities in the far-flung and backward areas of Gilgit-Baltistan providing as many as 16,550 job opportunities.
As many as 1.23 million acres of additional land will be brought under the plough.
The project will also mitigate floods and act as a shield against such natural disasters. Earlier, the 2010 floods in Pakistan inflicted a cumulative financial loss of US$ 38 billion.
The dam will add electricity of 18,100 GWh (million units) through a clean renewable source to the national grid annually.
Earlier in a Tweet, the Chairman CPEC Authority Lt General (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa said that the dam, a water reservoir of 6.4 million acre-feet, will add 1.2 million acres feet water for agriculture.
The Chairman CPEC Authority said that the mega project will generate 4,500 megawatts of cheaper and greener hydel power.
Lt General (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa said that the project will also create 16,000 jobs besides giving a boost to power, steel, cement and construction industries.
