ISLAMABAD:After completion of 10 under construction Wapda projects, the gross water storage capacity in Pakistan would increase from 13 million acre feet (MAF) to more than 24 MAF with an addition of 11.7 MAF, sufficient to irrigate another 1.6 million acres of land.
The under construction Wapda projects include five dams, three hydropower projects, one canal and one water supply scheme.
Diamer Bhasha Dam, Mohmand Dam, Dasu Hydropower Project, Nai Gaj Dam, Kachhi Canal Extension, Sindh Barrage and K-IV Project were among the projects, said official sources.
The installed hydel generation capacity would be doubled and set to cross 18,000 MW with an addition of 9,000 MW on completion of these projects, he continued.
The under construction Wapda projects would also provide about 35,000 job opportunities during the construction, he added.
The per capita water availability in Pakistan had come down from 5650 cubic meter in 1951 to an alarming level of 908 cubic meter per annum, pushing us to the stage of water-scarce country. Pakistan can store only 10 per cent of its annual river flows against the world average of 40 per cent, he told.
In order to tackle the impending water scarcity, we need to have more water storages besides practicing good water conservation and management strategies, he said.