PM Imran performs ground-breaking of Mohmand Dam

The premier along with former chief justice Saqib Nisar performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the dam in Mohmand district.

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, Prime Minister Imran thanked ex-CJP Nisar for raising awareness about the country's water crisis and the need to build dams.

“Our government had failed in thinking about the future of Pakistan. This led to a chief justice of the country raising an issue which should have been done by the prime minister and government. I want to thank Justice Saqib Nisar for this," he said.

Resolving to fix the country's economic issues, the premier said, “There cannot be investment in any country until there is peace. People want to invest in Pakistan because they think there is peace here. Unemployment will begin to decrease when there is investment in the country.”

Prime Minister Imran said underdeveloped areas of the country including the tribal belt had been left behind due to the failure of past governments in planning for the future and beyond their five-year terms in office.

“China has progressed because its leadership does not think about winning the election, rather it thinks about planning for the future of the country.”

Khyber Pakthunkhwa Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar, Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Pir Noorul Haq Qadari, Senator Faisal Javed and Member National Assembly Sajid Khan, along with other PTI leaders and Wapda officials, attended the ceremony.

Wapda Chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Muzamil Hussain and project director of the dam briefed the prime minister about salient features of the project.

Mohmand Dam is being constructed on River Swat about 48 kilometers from Peshawar, at the confluence of Mohmand and Charsadda district. The dam’s reservoir area extends upstream to Mohmand, Bajaur and other northern districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The dam is slated to be completed at a cost of over Rs183 billion by 2024.

Mohmand Dam will generate 800-megawatt electricity besides bringing about 17,000 acres barren land under cultivation. The dam will also solve the problem of water scarcity in Mohmand district besides saving Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera districts from floods.

The dam will be able to store 300,000 cusecs of water.

It has gross capacity of 1.9 million acre feet (MAF), live capacity 0.67 MAF with power generation potential of 800 megawatts (MW) and annual energy production of 2862 GWh.

Its construction will help the national power policy achieve the dual goals of meeting Pakistan’s energy needs in a sustainable manner and ensuring generation of affordable electricity, while helping to reduce the energy demand and supply gap.

Around 8,675 acres of land are being acquired for construction of requisite infrastructure at the dam site besides 56 kilometers long reservoir, irrigation network and re-regulation pond area.

Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier today arrived in Tirah Valley of Khyber District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where he attended the concluding ceremony of a sports gala as chief guest.

Governor KP and chief minister were also present at the event.