Mangla and Tarbela dams will die in 40 years
* Tarbela Dam director says Pakistan has no option but to make new dams
Staff Report
LAHORE: Tarbela Dam director and former chief technical advisor to the UN, Bashir A Malik, told Daily Times that the Mangla and Tarbela dams would likely loose their lives and maximum storage capacities in the next four decades, leaving the country with no option but to built new dams in order to avoid power and water crises.
Malik said that the Tarbela Dam would likely die by 2030 and the Mangla Dam by 2070. He said that the water storage capacity of these dams was decreasing everyday because of the increasing in them. He said the current power crisis in the country, particularly in Karachi would increase manifold in the next 10 years. He added that though the life of dams was short and the increasing silt in dams was a threat to their water storage capacities, Pakistan had no other option, especially after signing the Indus Water treaty.
Malik said that currently, the countrys power generation capacity was more than 700 megawatts and its deficit was around 1,500MW. He said that the countrys population was increasing at a rate of more than 2 percent every year and at this rate, it would be impossible to cater to the countrys increasing power needs. He said that besides the Kalabagh Dam and smaller dams in the NWPF, the government should also consider the Kohala Hydel Scheme at River Jhelum, which could help generate around 4,500 KW of electricity everyday. He said Pakistan had the capacity to generate around 30,000 MW through hydro power plants and with this step, the country could save water and generate power at the same time. He said Pakistan should beware of any agreement like the Indus Water Treaty.
Malik is also the writer of Indus Water Treaty in Retrospect, which provides detailed information about the Indus Water Treaty.
Punjab Water Council secretary general Ibadur Rehman Khan told Daily Times that the countrys dams were losing their storage capacity at a rate of one percent a year due to the increasing silt and by the next 10 to 15 years, there would be a severe water shortage in the country in case new dams were not built. He said that if the Kalabagh Dam was built till 2015, the already available dams would have lost most of their storage capacities. He said the establishment of Kalabagh Dam was essential because it would establish the dams available now. He said the Kalabagh Dam would have a lifetime of 450 years.
He said that even the countrys wheat and cotton crops were largely dependent on rains because there was a lack of water. He said that the current crop was not a bumper crop because enough water was not available through tube wells.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan