Lahore: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has received pre-qualification bids from five joint ventures led by international companies for the construction of the reservoir and appurtenant structures of Diamer Basha Dam, a news source reported. The dam will produce 4,500 megawatts of electricity.
The evaluation of the bids on technical and financial standard, and negotiation with the bidders will take approximately three to four months and is expected to be done by the year end.
Bhasha Dam will help reduce Pakistan’s water shortage as well as reduce risks of flooding. It will also contribute significantly towards reducing Pakistan’s energy crisis.
The dam will be constructed on the Indus River some 40 kilometres from Chillas Town, and it will be a 272-metre high Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) Dam. Diamer—Bhasha Dam is expected to have a water storage capacity of 8.1 million acre feet (MAF) and will provide more than 18 billion units of electricity per annum.
The land acquisition for the project is already almost 90% complete, and civil work can be launched soon.
