Insufficient Storage Capacity Causes 29 MAF Water Loss Annually

ISLAMABAD, Dec 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2023 ) :As much as about 29 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of water is going downstream Kotri and falling into the Arabian Sea every year due to insufficient water storage capacity in the country.

Sources told APP that the country's economy was suffering around $ 29 billion in annual economic losses on account of the unutilised flow of river water into the sea due to less water storage capacity.

They said the economic value of 1 MAF of water was estimated at US$ 1 billion as one million acre-feet (MAF) water on average irrigated four million acres of land.

They said virgin land could be brought under cultivation by increasing storage capacity in the country.

Unfortunately, after the commissioning of the Tarbela dam in the seventies, no mega reservoir was built. However, they said, now work was underway on mega dams projects such as Mohmand and Diamer Basha after the lapse of over five decades.

They said that they would not only aid in the storage of around 10 MAF of water but also generate over 5,000 MW of cheap hydel electricity.

Mangla and Tarbela dams had a storage capacity of 7.3 MAF and 6 MAF respectively but their capacities had been reduced due to sedimentation.

They stressed the need for building dams on a war footing in order to reap benefits from the unutilised water flowing down every year into the sea.