ISLAMABAD – Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) took a giant leapforward for development of precious water resources in the country byawarding the delayed-for-decade contract worth Rs.183.523 billion for civiland electro-mechanical works of Mohmand Dam Project on Tuesday.
The contract was awarded to a Joint Venture (JV) comprising the ChinaGezhouba Group of Companies (CGGC) of China as the lead firm and DESCON ofPakistan as its partner, said a statement issued.
The final contract worth Rs.183.523 billion was awarded to to JV thus,saving Rs. 18 billion from the approved PC-I, it further said.
The contract agreement signing ceremony was held at WAPDA House, whereinthe representatives of WAPDA and CGGC-DESCON JV signed the contractagreement on behalf of their organizations.
Chairman WAPDA Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (Retd), Member WAPDA, seniorofficers, project authorities and high-ups of CGGC and DESCON were alsopresent on the occasion.
It is worth mentioning here that WAPDA has been able to successfullyrealign Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project after a delay of decades, removingthe legal, financial and technical snags.
Addressing the contract signing ceremony, WAPDA Chairman said Mohmand DamHydropower Project will phenomenally contribute towards water, food andenergy security of Pakistan.
Read Top Stories
He said WAPDA was committed to completing the project as early as possibleto cope with the ever increasing needs of water and electricity in thecountry.
He expressed the hope that Mohmand Dam would go a long way in stabilizingthe national economy besides alleviating poverty and ushering in an era ofdevelopment in the project area.
Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project is historic and unique in nature beingconstructed on River Swat in Tribal District Mohmand of Khyber PakhtunkhwaProvince.
The project is scheduled to be completed in five years and eight months. Oncompletion, the project will store about 1.2 million acre feet (MAF) ofwater, generate 800 megawatt (MW) of low-cost hydel electricity and helpmitigating floods in Peshawar, Charsadda and Naushera.
Besides supplementing 160,000 acres of existing land, about 16,700 acres ofnew land will also be irrigated because of Mohmand Dam. In addition, 300million gallon water per day will also be provided to Peshawar for drinkingpurpose. Annual benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs. 51.6billion.
