The
water storage capacity of Balochistan has reached to 68,939 acre feet which will enhance the irrigation network and address
water scarcity issues of the drought-hit province.
Under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), as many as 27 dams have been completed having storage capacity of 68,939 acre feet i
n various districts of Balochistan. There are also ongoing small, medium, large and delayed action dams at various stages of implementation that will further add another 9.016 million acre feet (MAF) to the existing storage capacity. After the construction of large rese
rvoirs in t
he country, the storage capacity of
water will increase to several million-acre feet that will help store rain and floods
water during monsoon. An official of the Ministry of Water and Power told APP that the work was underway o
n various projects in Balochistan
, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh to address the growing issue of
water scarcity.
“The federal government is also providing funds for construction of various small, medium, large, and delay action and recharge dam projects in t
he country through Federal Public Sector Development Program (PSDP)”, he said. These projects aimed at providing
water for irrigation, agriculture, and drinking purposes which were being implemented by WAPDA and Irrigation Departments of four provinces besides the Public Health Engineering Department, Balochistan. At present combined storage capacity of Mangla, Tarbela, and Chashma rese
rvoirs is about 14.349 MAF. After the completion of ongoing projects i.e. Mohmand, Diamer Basha, and Nai Gaj Dams, the gross storage capacity will be increased to 23.988 MAF.
