RAWALPINDI: Commissioner Rawalpindi Capt (R) Muhammad Mehmood Sunday said that construction work on Dadocha Dam was underway in the district as about 12 percent work of the project has been completed.
He said that excavation work of the spillway and perennial pipe flow was also underway.
According to a spokesman of the Commissioner Officer, Dadocha dam is a project of public interest and its construction was inevitable in view of the increasing water shortage situation in Rawalpindi city.
The Dadocha dam project was conceived in 2001 but its construction work could not be started.
The incumbent government of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) started the project and addressed its administrative and technical issues on priority basis and kicked off the construction work on this important project of the region in December 2020, he added.
He said, process to pay compensation amount to the affectees of Mahota dam was also underway. He informed that 80 percent payment to the affectees has been done in Rawalpindi while 70 percent owners of the land in Chakwal district had also received the compensation amount.
The Commissioner directed the revenue authorities of Rawalpindi and Chakwal to collect entire data of the affectees and made all-out efforts to complete the pay compensation process as soon as possible.
He said the land for Daducha Dam worth Rs 6.429 billion had almost been acquired and the provincial government had released Rs 1.5 billion in this regard.
He said the government had started Daducha and Chahan dams to end the water shortage, both for drinking and agriculture purposes, in the Potohar region.
He said, water table in the Potohar region was decreasing fast and construction of dams was a dire need of the hour.
The spokesman said more than 1640 kanals of land had been acquired under which land acquisition in Kalar Syedan and Rawalpindi had been started.
The dam was being constructed on upstream of Soan River and all the rain water from Murree and Kahuta hills will gather in the lake at Dadocha village near Sihala on Kahuta Road.
The total storage capacity of the dam would be 60,000 acre feet, dead level storage capacity is 15,000 acre feet while live storage capacity is 45,000 acre feet.
The water inflow to the dam will be 77,000 cusecs while the outflow is estimated at 42,000 cusecs. The total cost of construction of the dam is estimated at Rs6 billion and the project will be completed in a period of three years.
Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) will also construct a treatment plant along with its main line to provide drinking water to the city of Rawalpindi from Dadocha Dam.
He further said a tourist site would also be constructed along the dam which would promote the local tourism in the area.
Accoridng to Chairman, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Tariq Mehmood Murtaza, the construction of the dam would help provide around 25 million gallons of water per day to Rawalpindi, fulfilling its water requirements. Moreover, he said that supply from the dam will help lessen the load on underground water sources in the region.

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