Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) is implementing Mangla Refurbishment Project with an approved PC-I cost of Rs 52.224 billion.
During visit to Mangla dam on Thursday, WAPDA’s Chairman Muzammil Hussain said that the project, on its completion, would enhance generation capacity of the hydel power station from 1,000-megawatt (MW) to 1310-MW, thus registering an increase of 310-MW.
According to a press release, the chairman had a detailed visit of the main dam, spillway, and the hydel power station. He also visited Khaliq Abad in the suburban area of Mirpur to check the reservoir rim, where project authorities have carried out rehabilitation work to strengthen the reservoir rim.
The chairman said that the dam had been playing a pivotal role for socio-economic development of the country since its completion in 1967 by releasing the stored water for agriculture, mitigating floods and providing low-cost hydel electricity to the national grid.
Referring to the refurbishment project, he said that WAPDA had devised a two-pronged strategy for optimal utilisation of hydropower resources. Under the strategy, WAPDA is not only initiating new hydropower projects but also rehabilitating and upgrading its existing hydel power stations to maximise the ratio of environment friendly and low-cost hydel electricity in the national grid.
He directed the officials concerned to complete the project within the stipulated timeframe.
