The government has embarked upon an ambitious plan to store additional 10 million acre feet of water by 2030 in order to enhance country’s water storage capacity.
Sources told APP here that over 7.1 MAF water would be stored through construction of Diamer Basha and Mohmand dams while remaining would be met through building small storage dams in all provinces during the said period.
They said that physical work had already been started on Mohmand Dam and it would likely to be completed before flood season of 2024.
The Mohmand Dam will not only generate 800 megawatt cheap hydel electricity but also store over 1.2 million acre feet.
Notably, for the past several years, Pakistan has been witnessing a series of floods which not only resulted in loss of lives but also proved to be detrimental to the country’s economy. At present, the total water storage capacity of the country is 14 million acre feet (MAF), whereas its annual consumption requirement stands at 117 MAF. Due to a lack of storage, as much as over 10 MAF of water goes into the sea every year.
