The major dam projects launched by the government over the past years would serve a variety of purposes, helping to mitigate the effects of devastating floods by storing the floodwaters, irrigate vast hectares of land to boost agriculture production, generate the much-needed and cheap hydel power to rid the country of costly fossil fuels and provide thousands of employment opportunities.

The major projects in the water sector include the 4,500MW (megawatt) Diamer-Basha Dam, 4,200MW Dasu hydropower project, 1,530MW Tarbela Dam’s 5th Extension project, Mohmand Dam and Keyal Khwar hydropower project, according to official documents available with WealthPK.

Once completed, these mega projects would help the government replace the electricity generated through the costly fossil fuels, which currently stands at a whopping 70% of Pakistan’s total energy mix, draining the country’s foreign exchange, according to the documents.

The documents said improving the share of other sources in energy generation is also under consideration, including solar, wind, bagasse and nuclear.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk