Purpose of the Kala Bagh Dam : Discuss It

Purpose of the Kala Bagh Dam

It is unfortunate that Pakistan neglected water requirements in the past. The river levels in Pakistan keep on decreasing by one meter annually. Indus, the Trans –Himalayan River of Southern Asia, is one of the world’s longest rivers. After crossing the Himalayas at Bunji it turns South West and enters Pakistan. All other rivers Ravi, Sutlej, Beias, Chenab, and Jhelum join Indus at Panjnad, rest of their journey to sea they complete with Indus.

It is unfortunate that during the 60 years of independence we have never tried to assess the water potential of our greatest river system. Different reports have revealed that nearly 100 MAF are required for irrigation as well as power supply.

Pakistan’s population was 140 million in 2003 and it is expected to rise to 208 million by the year 2025. This growth in population significantly increases the demand for food and fiber while both land and water resources are declining day by day.

According to water sector investment planning study Pakistan will face a shortage of 12 million tons in total grain production in the year 2012-13.  Hence there is an urgent need for more storage Dams to strengthen the energy sector and to rejuvenate the agriculture of Pakistan vital for economy of the country.

1. The Kalabagh project will meet the needs of irrigation water to meet the food production for the growing population in the coming year.
2. To generate a large amount of low cost Hydro-Electric power by major load centre and provide the obtainable grid for meeting the growing power demand for domestic agricultural and industrial consumers.
3. Reducing dependence on imported fuels
4. Dam at Kalabagh is being planned and projected to management about 6.1 MAF of irrigation supplies annually. Most of its water will be used during Rabi season from October to March and for sowing our Kharif crops like cotton, sugarcane and Rice during April and May.
5. To legalize and organize the extreme flood peaks of the Indus to alleviate flood Damage downstream.
6. To compensate for the storage lost due to the sitting up of existing reservoirs.
7. To generate the energy necessary to meet the demand and stop load shedding
8. With the commissioning of Kalabagh Dam the irrigation short fall would be completely eliminated.
9. The reservoir will also support a sizable fish stock.
10. The water released from Kalabagh reservoir can be utilized anywhere in the country through the canal system of any of the barrages located downstream i.e. Jinnah, Chashma, Sukkar and Kotli barrages.
11. Kalabagh Dam would store water during flood season and release the same during the low flow periods and deliver it in agreement with provincial
12. Indirect benefits like more industrial and food production, employment and agricultural boost will aware.