Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Good. It was long over due.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/19/foundation-stone-laid-for-diamer-bhasha-dam.html
CHILAS: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said here on Tuesday that the $12 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam on the Indus would produce 4,500MW of electricity and store over 8 million acre feet of water and help meet the country’s future power and agricultural requirements.

Speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the world’s highest concrete dam, he said he had undertaken consultations with various quarters to ensure that the project did not suffer the same fate as the Kalabagh dam which had fallen victim to political bickering.

The prime minister praised the local people who would have to sacrifice their ancestral land for a great national cause. But, he said, the project would play a great role in alleviating their sense of deprivation.

The prime minister said the vision of late prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Banazir Bhutto was being carried forward and the dam was the result of that vision. He recalled the political reforms the two leaders had introduced, particularly the 1974-75 Northern Areas Framework Ordinance.

He praised the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir and their political leadership for their united stand in favour of initiating the project.

The prime minister said matters relating to land compensation had been settled by a committee and any other issue cropping up would be resolved in consultation with the local leadership.

The prime minister said that China would construct the 165-km Jaglot-Skardu and 135-km Jaglot-Sazin roads.

On this occasion, Mr Gilani announced Rs300 million grant for Diamer and said an engineering faculty would be set up at the KKH University which would be eventually upgraded to an engineering university.

He ordered the work on a cadet college in Chillas to be speeded up and announced an additional amount of Rs1 billion for the government of Gilgit-Baltistan for immediate overhauling of the KKH and other roads.

The prime minister directed Wapda to initiate work on upgrading the DHQ hospitals in Chilas and Skardu and a public school in Ganche.

He said talks were also under way with the governments of Afghanistan and Tajikistan for construction of a road to provide connectivity with Central Asian Republics.

Former federal minister for water and power Raja Pervez Ashraf told PTV that the government had already earmarked Rs16 billion in the budget for the Diamer-Bhasha dam which would be completed in 10 years, adds APP.

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/18/3215340/pakistan-inaugurates-huge-dam.html

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan on Tuesday inaugurated construction of a giant dam that would help plug its crippling electricity shortfall, but without a hoped-for infusion of cash for the project from the United States and other international funders.

The Diamer Basha dam, in the far northeast of the country, would cost about $12 billion to build, money that the near-bankrupt government of Pakistan doesn’t have. It would be the first big dam to be built in Pakistan since the early 1970s, when the U.S. helped construct the Tarbela dam.

Washington is seriously considering helping to fund the program, which would be the biggest U.S. civilian aid project in Pakistan for years. But while U.S. officials here believe the project would help repair damaged U.S.-Pakistani relations, the decision on whether to provide support comes as tension is at record levels between the two countries, with American officials accusing Pakistan’s military and spy agency of directly backing the insurgents in Afghanistan.

This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected in Islamabad with a high-powered visiting team of U.S. civilian and military officials.

Pakistan went ahead with the official launch of the dam, which provided a positive news story for the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, seemingly confident that the U.S., the Asian Development Bank and other international funders will come through. It’s believed that Washington has decided in principle to provide cash for the dam.

“We are committed to working with the government of Pakistan and the multilateral development banks to see how we can support the Diamer Basha multipurpose dam project,” said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Washington hasn’t announced its support. “Funding decisions will be made in the future.”

The official said that the Asian Development Bank was leading the financing for the project and that the U.S. decision would be tied to the outcome of the bank’s due diligence work.

While the U.S. contribution would only cover a small portion of the costs, with plans for an initial $200 million, that money would be a straight grant, not a loan, and would be available early on in the project, enabling Pakistan to proceed with work quickly.

“I think this (dam) will be a lifeline for Pakistan,” Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said at a ceremony at the Diamer Basha site. “Our biggest problem today is electricity.”

The dam would generate 4,500 megawatts of electricity, enough to fill the entire current shortfall, which causes electricity to be cut to homes and businesses for hours each day. That power, however, wouldn’t be available until the dam is completed, something likely to take eight years or more. This month, popular anger over the blackouts caused violent protests in several towns across the country.

The dam’s water reservoir, which will form a 50-mile-long lake, would hold so much water that it could help prevent the kind of devastating flooding seen in 2010 when the Indus River burst its banks.

The dam’s construction is a concern for India because it’s located Kashmir, which is also claimed by India.

(Shah is a McClatchy special correspondent.)

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

Finally some project is going to start...

Just for the record, the paper work for this and few other Hydel projects was started in Mush's era...

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Geelay Gilani sahib do you know project will finish in 10 years? Do you know our current electrical shortfall?

Would our politicians sacrifice their “ancestral” lands to accommodate any such “national” cause? They can’t even let their farms be destroyed by flood, they’d rather destroy smaller farmers’ lands, how can one ask for these landlords’ to make a sacrifice for national cause?

Thank you people :k:

sigh 10 years.

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:k:

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better late thn never! :)

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

Why can't it be 2-3 years? It is not the three gorges dam.

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

asset of a country!
thses are the mega structures ten years are the minimum if executed with time bound programmes , if unexpected problems dont come up as in case of narmada dam and tehri dam in india which were marred by public agitation by enviournmental activists . ultimately even after twenty five years time these projects are still not finished.

more over it is going to be costliest dam of south asia , money perhaps is coming from americans, chinese, a.d.b. and some friendly countries.

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

Its a huge project. Look at NYC & the most powerful country in the world. 10 years after 911 that building still not finished.

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Plus there is a lot of potential for stuff to go wrong. Three Gorges dam was built on a lot of dead bodies and unsafe conditions for labours. If you wish to build it in 3 years, it would be shoddy work with a huge human cost.

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

multipurpose projects are notorius for taking toll of human lives purticularly in last centuries . most of losses are caused due to accidents , but let us not bother about accidents because safety standards and measures have come a long way and manage it to acceptable levels if applied strictly .

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

Please check the location of the dam. It would take 2-3 years to build proper roads to get access to the site.

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So who is paying for this? Did the Americans decide to fund it?

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partial funding only 500 millionn dollars , world bank declined ,asian development banks yes , chinese with 17000 labours now sitting idle after completion of three gorges dam not sure about money ,few islamic countries have assured help.
(http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/16/120878/us-considers-funding-pakistani.html)

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

There is also a picture of geo location where the dam will be constructed.

http://www.geotauaisay.com/2009/08/diamer-bhasha-dam-project-pakistan/

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Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.

The first para in the article says “without US funding”.

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they will give grant of 200 million dollars initially , read from the fifth line below and don't read selectively .

Washington is seriously considering helping to fund the program, which would be the biggest U.S. civilian aid project in Pakistan for years. But while U.S. officials here believe the project would help repair damaged U.S.-Pakistani relations, the decision on whether to provide support comes as tension is at record levels between the two countries, with American officials accusing Pakistan's military and spy agency of directly backing the insurgents in Afghanistan.

This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected in Islamabad with a high-powered visiting team of U.S. civilian and military officials.

Pakistan went ahead with the official launch of the dam, which provided a positive news story for the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, seemingly confident that the U.S., the Asian Development Bank and other international funders will come through. It's believed that Washington has decided in principle to provide cash for the dam.

"We are committed to working with the government of Pakistan and the multilateral development banks to see how we can support the Diamer Basha multipurpose dam project," said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Washington hasn't announced its support. "Funding decisions will be made in the future."

The official said that the Asian Development Bank was leading the financing for the project and that the U.S. decision would be tied to the outcome of the bank's due diligence work.

While the U.S. contribution would only cover a small portion of the costs, with plans for an** initial $200 million, that money would be a straight grant, not a loan,** and would be available early on in the project, enabling Pakistan to proceed with work quickly.

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"upset"? Where do you pull such stuff from? I don't like people who pull stuff from where sun don't shine. As for the "200 bn", its actually 200 million and is also not a definite number as the article YOU posted starts with "US considers.....", or were you reading selectively?

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no problem brother, i have edited my post. as for u.s. considering ............ everything starts like that , do you know how much money they have already invested in flood relief only ?

as for selective reading you selected one line only*"without u.s. funding" why?* , leaving aside whole article which talked about money and cooperation ,this is selective reading . that is all.

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it was because of debate on whether a building should go up or not. A comparable project would be the hoover dam and it didn't take a decade.