Maryam Directs Dadhocha Dam Completion By November 2025 To Meet Rawalpindi's Water Needs

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Thursday directed the completion of Dadhocha Dam by November 2025 to overcome water shortage in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Feb, 2024) Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Thursday directed the completion of Dadhocha Dam by November 2025 to overcome water shortage in Rawalpindi.

The chief minister issued the directive during her visit to the dam's site to inspect the ongoing construction work.

Maryam said that Rawalpindi and its adjacent areas were facing severe shortage of water. The situation would further worsen in summer with the shortfall reaching 60 MGD, which could be met by the Duduchha Dam, she added.

She ordered the constructors to deploy additional machinery and workforce, and initiate work on different sections of the dam simultaneously to meet the deadline of November 2025.

She said the dam, being built at the cost of Rs12 billion, would meet the water requirement of the Rawalpindi city and its suburbs to great extent. After completion the dam would provide some 35 million gallons of clean drinking water per day, she added.

The chief minister said owners were being given compensation for their land acquired for the dam according to the current market value.

She remarked that Pakistan was one of the countries which would face severe water shortage in the coming days. Rainwater could be preserved by constructing more dams, she added.

The officials of Frontier Works Organisation gave a detailed briefing to the chief minister about the dam.

She was told that the construction work of the dam was started in November 2023. The process of releasing water to the spillway was in progress.

The chief minister was informed that that work was also underway on the revised PC-1 for the re-determination of the land value (cost). Financial and physical progress was 40% and 12% respectively so far.

It was further told that some 16,194 kanals and 14 marlas land of Rawalpindi and Kalar Syedan areas were acquired for the construction of the dam, located at a distance of 25 kilometer from Rawalpindi. The dimensions of the Dadhocha Dam would be 123 feet height and 737 feet long, with catchment area of 129 square miles.