ISLAMABAD: The government has signed a contract of four hundred and forty two billion rupees with a Chinese company and Frontier Works Organization (FWO) for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam.

The contract covers construction of a diversion system, main dam, access bridge and 21 megawatt Tangir hydropower project.

The eight million acre feet reservoir with 272 meter height will be the tallest roller compact concrete dam in the world.

Also Read: What benefits does the Diamer Bhasha Dam offer to Pakistan?

The dam will have 6.4 MAF usable water storage capacity and it will help alleviate acute irrigation shortage caused by siltation of existing reservoirs.

The completion of project would increase country’s storage capacity from 30 to 48 days and will add 4500 megawatt of additional electricity to the national grid.

The Diamer Bhasha Dam is expected to create 16,500 jobs, and use huge quantities of cement and steel to boost the industry in addition to its key purposes of water storage.

It will produce 4,500 MW of cheap and affordable electricity to meet the country’s pending energy needs.

The dam’s water-storage capacity of 6.4 MAF (Million Acre Feet) will minimize the existing water deficit in the country, 12 MAF to 6.1 MAF. By reducing sedimentation, it will add 35 years to the life of the Tarbela Dam.

The dam will also put an area of 1.23 million acres of land under agriculture. It would also be a big source of flood prevention, which would save billions of annual flood damage.

Building dams in the country would help meet energy requirements at an affordable rate, said the PM, in addition to maximizing the use of available water resources for agricultural needs.