Prime Minister Imran Khan performed the ground-breaking of the Tarbela-5 (T5) expansion project which is aimed at protecting the Tarbela Dam against silting besides helping generate 1530 MW electricity and provide 1.34 billion units of power to the national grid annually.
The construction of Tarbela-5 expansion project would help generate approximately 3,000 jobs and would also enhance power production capacity of Tarbela dam from 4,888 MW to 6,418 MW. The project would be completed at an estimated cost of $807 million within 3 years.
Pakistan’s rivers get 80% of water inflow within three to four months and this water needs to be stored affectively. While speaking at the occasion the PM said “We have decided to construct 10 dams within 10 years including Dasu and Bhasha dams. We may face water shortage in the future and would be unable to cope with the needs of people and farmers unless we have storages,”
At the occasion the prime minister particularly appreciated the performance of Chairman of Water and Power Development Authority Lt General (Retd) Muzzammil Hussain for keeping up the construction work of dams despite COVID-related restrictions.
