Akhori Dam Project ..... 600 MW

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Akhori Dam Project


Location

Akhori Dam site is located near Akhori Village across Nandna Kas, a small tributary of Haro River in Attock District of Punjab. The Dam site Co-ordinates are 330 42’ 23” N and 720 26’ 34” E.


Objectives
Gross Head (i) Storage of water for Supplementing Indus Basin Irrigation System.
(ii) Power Generation 600 MW (2155 GWh/Annum)


Salient Features


Main Dam

Dam Type Earth & Rock Filled
Height/Length 400 ft/ 16930 ft
Gross Storage 7.6 MAF
Live Storage 7.0 MAF


Saddle Dam


Height 213 ft
Length 4.78 Miles

Conveyance Channel

Conveyance Channel Length 23 Miles (37 Km)
Conveyance Channel Capacity 60,000 Cusecs
Bed Width 249.3 ft (76 m)
Depth 32.8 ft (10 m)


Resettlement Statistics


No. Of Affectees 55,800
No. Of Houses 9270
Land 65976 Acres
Roads 102 Km
Estimated Cost (2005) US $ 4.40 Billion (Rs. 264.00 Billion)
Estimated Cost (2005) US $ 4.01 Billion (Rs. 401.25 Billion)
Construction Period 5 Years
EIRR 15%


Status


FEASIBILITY STUDY

• PC-II approved for Rs. 194.804 million by CDWP through circulation in March 19, 2004.
• Final Feasibility Study Report, prepared by M/S Techno-Consult International, has been received on Jan. 26, 2006.
• Revised PC-II for feasibility study amounting to Rs. 286.857 million submitted to Planning Commission for approval on 16.8.2008.
• Planning Commission returned the Revised PC-II Proforma for feasibility study in August 2014 with the remarks “If approval of the subject PC-II is still required, the case may be submitted afresh along with source of funding”.
• WAPDA clarified on 29.09.2014 that the Project is already completed, hence no change in PC-II cost. Regarding source of funding it was intimated that Govt. of Pakistan has already provided its share of Rs. 100 million through PSDP, the balance will be financed by WAPDA. PC-II approval is required to regularize the already incurred expenditure and to clear the liabilities.
• MoW&P has cleared and forwarded the PC-II Proforma to Planning Commission on September 21, 2015 for approval.
• CDWP has approved the PC-II for Feasibility Study of Akhori Dam project on 08.02.2016.


DETAILED ENGINEERING DESIGN

• PC-II for Detailed Engineering Design and Tender Documents of the Project amounting to Rs. 818.00 Million submitted on June 23, 2006 for approval of ECNEC.
• PC-I (April, 2006) amounting to Rs. 67023 million for land acquisition and resettlement of Affectees under approval of ECNEC.


STAKEHOLDER’S CONSULTATIONS


• Feasibility Study was shared with provinces, comments received on Dec. 30, 2006 and responded on Jan.18, 2007.
• Presentation to Punjab held on May 14, 2007. WAPDA requested Govt. of Sindh on
April 28 & June 30, 2007 and Govt. of KPK on May 17, May 27 & June 30, 2007 to allocate time slot for presentation.
• Due to non allocation of time slot for presentation, a meeting was held on Dec. 01, 2007 under the chairmanship of Secretary MoW&P, it was decided that “The Ministry shall convene a meeting in Islamabad to discuss the observations of provinces on Feasibility Study of Akhori Dam Project as soon as possible”.
• MoW&P scheduled a meeting on April 30, 2009 under the chairmanship of Secretary to evolve consensus for the project but the meeting was cancelled.
• P&D Department, Govt. of Sindh communicated further comments vide letter dated 05.05.2009, annotated reply was submitted on 04.09.2009.
• WAPDA requested Govt. of Punjab on July 11, 2014 to evolve consensus among provinces on Project Feasibility.
• MoW&P desired information on July 02, 2015 on Water Availability and Environmental Impacts to satisfy provincial concerns. Report was submitted on July 16, 2015.
• WAPDA presented Akhori Dam Project to Secretary Irrigation, Govt. of Punjab on Sept. 16, 2015 and requested to develop consensus among Provinces so that work on the Project may be started at the earliest.

 

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RESERVATIONS OF PROVINCES AND WAPDA’S REPLY

PUNJAB

• Punjab has no objection on construction of the dam.

BALOCHISTAN

• Balochistan has no objection but has demanded 12% of royalty on the generation of hydropower from Akhori on the basis of 12% share in water.
• GOB has been requested to approach Federal Government being competent to decide the matter.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Reservations................................ WAPDA’s Response

Un-favorable geology..... Geology is favorable, however more investigations will be carried out during detailed engineering design stage.

Excessive seepage which will ruin their agriculture fields.. Seepage Will be taken care of while designing the channel & the dam material to be used after carrying out all the Lab Test.

Location of the power house in Punjab due to which royalty will be claimed by Punjab whereas the people of KPK will be displaced and their lands will be affected. Adequate compensation will be paid to the displaced persons and their resettlement will be ensured.

Availability of water. ........Data shows that water is available for Akhori Dam.

Design of the dam is faulty as appearing in feasibility report...... Detailed engineering design will be taken only after carrying out geological investigations & hydrological studies.


SINDH


Reservations.............................. WAPDA’s Response

Water availability.......... Ample water is available for the dam according to data available.

Un-favourable geology at dam site............. Geology permits the construction of dam.

Non-assessment of flows downstream Kotri in EIA Studies. Environmental Impact on downstream Kotri has been assessed.

Deterioration of ground water quality................ Instead of deteriorating the quality of ground water; the construction of dam will improve the ground water quality in Sindh due to continuous releases from the dam.

Seismology of the project area is not favorable........... Seismological studies show that dam is feasible at the proposed site.


WAY FORWARD

MoW&P under its mandate may convene a meeting to discuss the observations of provinces on Feasibility Study of Akhori Dam.