The Katzarah Dam is a proposed

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

located near

Shyok The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some . The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...

Shigar River Shigar River ( ur, ) is located in the mountainous Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. The Shigar River is formed from the melted water of the Baltoro Glacier and Biafo Glacier. It flows through the Shigar Valley. The river is tributary to I ...

, and Indus rivers in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. If built it would be Pakistans largest dam.

Site

The dam site is about 18 km downstream of

Skardu , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Gilgit Baltistan#Pakistan , pushpin_label_position ...

and would create storage in three gorges.

Storage and power

Katzarah dam would create a reservoir up to 35 maf, the largest in Pakistan and six times larger than Kalabagh or Basha. The largest reservoir is Kariba Dam lake which is 150 maf. It would be able to generate about 15,000 MW of power.

History

WAPDA 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 ...

Engineer Fateh Ullah discovered the dam site in 1957 by looking at the GTS maps later on he prepared a pre-feasibility report in April 1962. President

Muhammad Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country's ...

requested the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

to send its experts to identify dam sites in Pakistan and other water resources projects. In 1968, Dr Pieter Lieftnick of the

and his team identified Katzarah dam site near Skardu among others and called it Skardu dam. Confusion is being created by calling Katzarah as Skardu, the two different dam sites namely Katzarah and Skardu are 22 km apart. Therefore, both cannot be called Skardu. The World Bank Team fixes the site for Skardu Dam on the upstream of Skardu town. It is immediately located on the downstream of the confluence of

with Indus River where a gauge site has since been established for the purpose. At this location the height of Skardu Dam is fixed as 310 feet, length 3700 feet and storage capacity as 8 maf. For confirmation reference may be made to Dr Pieter Lieftnick's report — pages 283 and 296.

References

Dams in Pakistan Dams in the Indus River basin {{Pakistan-dam-stub