Lauding the efforts of Pakistani and Chinese engineers and workers for the construction of the World Bank aided 4,320-megawatt Dasu hydropower project, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the dam is vital for the development of Pakistan, as it will meet the country’s electricity need at a very reasonable tariff. Chinese engineering firms are playing key roles in the construction of the project.

The main civil contract work has been awarded to China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), according to the project website.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been entrusted with the work of relocating a highway and construction of an access road, while China Gansu International Corporation for Economic and Technical Cooperation (CGICOP) has bagged a USD 36 million contract for the construction of the project colony and associated infrastructure.

Power China is carrying out the construction of a key 132kV transmission line.

“The construction of the dam is a difficult task for which I pay tribute to all the workers, including foreign engineers,” Imran Khan said while addressing a gathering of Pakistani and Chinese engineers after visiting tunnels and other sections of the under-construction Dasu dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday.

He said work on projects such as the Dasu dam should have been started a long ago to provide affordable electricity to people, Dawn reported.

The prime minister said time was not very far when the country would be able to ensure the supply of inexpensive electricity to people with the help of the Dasu hydropower project.

“Our economy has rapidly been improving and the acquisition of cheap electricity will meet the industrial and domestic needs and the latter will develop and put the country on the way to prosperity,” the prime minister said.

Earlier, the premier inspected different sections of the under-construction Dasu hydropower project and reviewed the pace of work.

Dasu hydropower project includes the construction of a 4,320MW plant on the Indus River near Dasu town in the Upper Kohistan district. The project is located around 74 kilometers downstream of the Diamer-Basha Dam, 240 km upstream of Tarbela dam, and 345 km from Islamabad.

The project is being developed in two stages by Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).

Briefing the prime minister, Wapda chairman Gen (retired) Muzammal Hussain said three more such dams with an overall electricity capacity of around 7,000 megawatts would be built downstream the Indus river in Pattan (Lower Kohistan), Thakot (Battagram) and Khair Abad (Attock).

“The Dasu dam’s first phase is going to be completed in 2025 and start supplying 2160-megawatt electricity to the national grid,” Mr. Hussain said. On the completion of its second phase in 2029, he said, the dam’s electricity production capacity would reach 4,320 megawatts.

He said work on the dam was well in progress and acquisition of the land for the construction of the dam and relevant projects and welfare schemes were already completed.

“We have been utilizing the country’s water resources in a better way to put this country on the way to prosperity and development,” said Hussain.