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Gomal Zam Dam ( ur, ) is a multi-purpose
gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...
in South Waziristan Tribal District of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The dam impounds the
Gomal River Gomal River ( ur, , ps, ګومل سیند، ګومل دریاب) is a river in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It rises in the northern part of Afghanistan's Paktika Province. It joins the Indus River 20 miles south of Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakh ...
, a tributary of the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
, at Khjori Kach, where the Gomal River passes through a narrow ravine. The purpose of the dam is irrigation, flood control, and
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
power generation. Construction of the dam began in August 2001 and was completed in April 2011. The powerhouse was completed in March 2013 and electricity production started in August 2013. The dam was officially inaugurated on 12 September 2013 by Minister for Water and Power
Khawaja Muhammad Asif Khawaja Muhammad Asif (; born 9 August 1949) is a Pakistani politician currently serving as the Defence Minister of Pakistan since April 2022, He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, since August 2018. Previously, he was a ...
, along with US Ambassador Richard G. Olson and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
Governor
Shaukatullah Khan Shaukatullah Khan is a Pakistani politician from Bajaur Agency who served as Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from February 2013 to April 2014. He was appointed by the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, on the advice of the Prime Minister ...
.


Features

Gomal Dam is a
roller-compacted concrete Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) or rolled concrete (rollcrete) is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for Po ...
(RCC) gravity dam with a height of 437 feet (133 m). It has a gross storage capacity of and the 60.5 km long main canal can irrigate about of barren land in
Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
district and Tehsil Kulachi of
Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; bal, , Urdu and skr, , ps, ډېره اسماعيل خان), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan ...
. It produces 17.4 MW of electricity.


Background

The dam site at Khjori was first envisaged by four British officers of the Royal Corps of Engineers in 1898 and surveys were carried out. The Government of Pakistan approved the construction of the dam in August 1963 and preparatory work was commenced. However, it was stopped due to the outbreak of the
1965 Indo-Pak War The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...
and by subsequent budgetary constraints. However, in 2001, the local Provincial Minister Aminullah Gandapur brought notice of the delay in the construction of the dam to the then
President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
, who ordered its construction. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 14 August 2001.


Finances and construction

In 2002, Pakistan's
Water and Power Development Authority The Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA; ur, ) is a government-owned public utility maintaining power and water in Pakistan, although it does not manage thermal power. WAPDA includes Tarbela and Mangla dams among its resources. ...
(WAPDA) hired a Chinese joint venture, CWHEC-HPE, to lead construction at a cost of about
Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
4.388 billion. The venture joined China National Water Resources & Hydropower Engineering Corporation and Harbin Power Engineering Company. Work halted in October 2004 when two Chinese engineers were kidnapped by
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...
militants. One was later rescued but the other was killed in the attempt. Work resumed in 2007 after Pakistan put its army's construction branch, the
Frontier Works Organisation The Frontier Works Organization ( ur, )); abbreviated as FWO), is a military engineering organization, and one of the major science and technology commands of the Pakistan Army. Commissioned and established in 1966, the FWO includes active duty ...
, in charge. It hired as sub-contractors China's state-owned
Sinohydro Corporation Sinohydro (Chinese Language, Chinese: 中国水电; long form: 中国水利水电建设集团公司) is a Chinese SASAC, state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company. In the 2012 Engineering News-Record Top 225 Global Contractors, ...
to complete the dam, and Turkey's Tekser to finish irrigation works. The total cost of the resumed project was stated to be around Rs. 13 billion. In July 2010, the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
(USAID) announced it would provide funding for the dam. Further delay to the project was caused by the
2010 Pakistan floods The floods in Pakistan began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and, Balochistan regions of Pakistan, which affected the Indus River basin. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's tot ...
. In October 2010, the construction work on the dam was reported to be 92 percent complete. It was also stated to start operating from April 2011. In January 2011, USAID signed an agreement with WAPDA to provide $40 million to help complete the under-construction Gomal Zam Dam & powerhouse. The first tranche of $20 million was released to WAPDA in February 2011. Another $20 million were provided to complete the main dam and the powerhouse. Construction of the Dam was completed in April 2011 and filling of the reservoir was started in the same month. Eight more dam workers were kidnapped by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants on 15 August 2012. Seven of the eight workers were released on 14 September 2013 after the Pakistani government paid a heavy ransom of
Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
25 million to the ‘commander Latif’ group of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The fate of the eighth kidnapped employee is unknown. Another $40 million was also provided by the USAID for completion of the irrigation and flood protection component of the project. In January 2013, the irrigation and flood protection component was stated to be "almost near completion". The powerhouse was completed in March 2013 and electricity production started in August 2013. The Gomal Zam Dam was officially inaugurated on 12 September 2013.


Waran Canal System

On 12 September 2012, WAPDA and USAID signed an agreement for the construction of the Waran Canal System in
Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
district of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
province. Under the agreement, USAID will provide $12 million funding for construction of the 164 km-long Waran Canal system to bring 28,000 acres of barren land under permanent irrigation. In January 2013, WAPDA started the construction of Waran Canal System as an integral component of the Gomal Zam Dam project. On completion, the canal will irrigate 28,000 acres land in the district which would increase crop sowing in the area from 26 percent to 87 percent and harvesting intensity from 9 percent to 80 percent. The Waran Canal, in addition to Gomal Zam Dam's main canal, will bring a total of 191,000 acres land under permanent irrigation in Dera Ismail Khan & Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is very unfortunate that to-date the irrigation channel has not yet started working. Due to the high level of negligence on the part of concerned authorities the canal is yet to start. From 2012 till 2019 it's almost 7 years that the canal has been delayed for various reasons. Agriculture Engineer Engr. Salah Ud Din explained that the project has been delayed due to the following key reasons which should be addressed as soon as possible for the early completion of the project. Practicing of both sophisticated Canal Irrigation System as well as allowing Rodh Kohi floods into modern/ under establishing/ under construction WCs i.e. Non-segregation of primitive Rodh Kohi flood and modern / sophisticated Canal Irrigation system. Check damming in Rods and flood diversions to WCs (Under Progress / Completed sites), Eventually damages of WCs due to Rodh Kohi flooding,   ·Non-cooperation of farmers / not letting field teams for constructions on WCs & road sites. Moreover, the following Rodh Kohi Nullahs are directly hitting the WCs of GZD-CADP; Gomal Nullah, Rodh Looni, Korr Nullah,Sharrana I, Sharrana II, Kala Pani Rodh of Rori, Kala Pani Kot Zafar Baladasti Way out: Clear-cut segregation of sophisticated canal irrigation system and primitive Rod-Kohi Nullahs. Complete ban on check damming / flooding, diversion of flood on watercourse sites, Illegal cuts, pipes, siphon tubes, and heavy machinery crossings. Enlistment and to work out the deprived farmers from canal irrigation system by a joint team of Revenue and Irrigation Departments. To address the issue on technical basis and arrangement of irrigation / water system on sustainable engineering grounds/ parameters. In case of unavoidable circumstances, a joint irrigation / regulation system to apply the minimum amount of water to avoid damages to watercourses and the canal irrigation system. As well as identification of sites to install the underground pipes (as a cross drainage structure) to pass on flood water across the watercourse/Distributary/Minor sites. District administrative support to convince farmers to allow for working tracks (along with open drain on both sides) of watercourse pads. This is the final way out to complete the tertiary / watercourse irrigation system under GZD-CADP. The land that is to be irrigated by Waran Canal is fertile enough not to cater only to the need of food of the local area but rather will contribute to the national exchequer. District Tank is one of the most backward districts of KP and even the people have an acute problem of access to clean drinking water and the operationalization of the Waran Canal indirectly contributes to the need of safe drinking water by rising the under ground water table. All concerns and especially the minister for water and power and the PM are requested to give special attention to Waran Canal and ensure its operation at the soonest time.


See also

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List of dams and reservoirs in Pakistan This page shows the Province-wise list of dams and reservoirs in Pakistan According to the International Commission on Large Dams73 dams and reservoirsin Pakistan are over in height. Tarbela Dam is the largest earth-filled dam in the world a ...
*
List of power stations in Pakistan Pakistan has a total installed power generation capacity of 43,775 MW as on 30 June 2022. Which includes 26,683 MW thermal, 10,635 MW hydroelectric, 1,838 MW wind, 530 MW solar, 369 MW bagasse and 3,620 MW nuclear. Thermal In service Currentl ...
*
Satpara Dam Satpara Dam is a medium-size multi-purpose concrete-faced earth-filled dam located downstream from Satpara Lake on the Satpara Stream approximately 4 km from the town of Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The dam has enlarged the si ...
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Khan Khwar Hydropower Project The Khan Khwar Hydropower Plant is a run-of-the-river project located near the town of Besham in Shangla District on the Khan Khwar River, a right bank tributary of the Indus River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is approximately 265 ...
*
Allai Khwar Hydropower Project The Allai Khwar Hydropower Plant is a run-of-the-river, high head project of 687 metres, located in the Battagram District on the Allai Khwar River, a left bank tributary of the Indus River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is approxi ...


References


External links


Gomal Zam Dam at WAPDA
{{Dams in Pakistan Dams in Pakistan Dams completed in 2011 Hydroelectric power stations in Pakistan Gravity dams Roller-compacted concrete dams 2011 establishments in Pakistan Buildings and structures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa