On Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan kicked off the mega-building work at Diamer Bhasha Dam on River Indus near Chilas, which will generate 4,500 cheap and green hydropower. The 272-meter high water reservoir, having a capacity of 6.4 million acres, will be the third major dam in the country after dams in Tarbela and Mangla.
Speaking to a public rally PM said,”Diamer Bhasha Dam will change the fate of local people and bring immense development to the city.”
He said that previous governments neglected dam building, and instead opted for power generation fuel types. He said electricity generation through imported fuel and furnace oil resulted in a high current account deficit that led the economy to downward trend, devaluation of currency, inflation, poverty, and de-industrialization.
He said his government inherited a massive 20 billion dollar current-account deficit because of these bad policies of previous tenures.
He cited the example of the success of China, focused on long-term plans to achieve a stable position in the nation’s comity.
He has requested the Chief Commissioner to authorize the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) to recommend to tourists with standard operating procedures (SOPs).
He expressed the confidence that Chilas people would not be lagging behind in development as the Diamer Bhasha Dam project would create employment opportunities.
A briefing was given to the PM at the site of the dam, which was also attended by Water Resources Minister Faisal Vawda and Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur.
Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa (retd) said that the water storage of 6.4 MAF (million acres) would add 1.2 million acres for farming, creating 4,500 megawatts of cheaper and greener hydropower.
The project would boost steel, cement and construction sectors, in addition to creating 16,000 jobs, he remarked.
