Guroh Dop Dam on Panjkora River

(Main tributary of Swat River)

The Dam that will control floods in Kabul River of Peshawar valley

It is surprising on the part of WAPDA for selecting a single purpose Munda dam for power generation on Swat River with 0.6 maf live storage and 1.29 maf gross storage capacity wrongly claiming to be as flood control dam. WAPDA is unaware and do not know, the gigantic multipurpose dam at Guroh Dop on Panjkora River having 8.5 maf storage capacity with a height of 550 feet, greater than Basha and Kalabagh Dam in storage capacity.

It is impossible that 0.6 maf storage could mitigate a super flood of 400,000 cusecs in Kabul River. The dam is originally planned as power dam, and not flood control as it has negligible storage capacity. The site is therefore not for a flood control dam

WAPDA has created a dilemma for itself and the Government for its wrong planning. WAPDA cannot convert a power dam with nominal storage into a flood control dam that requires huge storage. The Government of KP may take notice of it. The flood control multipurpose dam is Guroh Dop, a few miles upstream of Munda. I discovered the 8.5 maf Guroh Dop Dam in November 1960 and recommended its building several times. Munda may be built but as power dam. It is not a flood control dam.

Guroh Dop Dam is a wonderful super flood control dam with a huge reservoir called Shigo Katch spread over an area of 40 square miles. Its location is at 34-45 longitude and 71-47-17 latitude on GTS sheet No: 38N/13.

Guroh Dop reservoir will mitigate floods in Kabul River and save Nowshera, Charsadda and Peshawar valley from devastating floods as experienced this season. It will also help reduce floods in the Indus River. The drainage basin of Guroh Dop Dam is 2200 square miles. This includes Dir District and Bajaur territory. The whole area is covered with thick forests. The river contains nominal silt, therefore it will have a very long lifespan. Moreover, it has an excellent capacity-inflow ratio as the reservoir is three times larger than the annual inflow that is about 3 maf. An ideal combination.

After discovering the dam site on GTS map, I went to locate the dam site on 23/11/1960. I entered Panjkora River valley from “Shigi Katch” Reservoir for locating the dam site at contour elevation 2100. I came out of the valley via “Guroh Dop Algad”, covering a distance of about 10 miles on foot in the most difficult terrain in eight hours. The dam site is located four miles downstream of the confluence of “Jandol Rod and Panjkora River and nearly half mile downstream of confluence of “Guroh Dop Algad” and the main Panjkora River. The riverbed width at the dam site is very narrow about 150 feet to 250 feet as it appeared visually. Now road is built that passes by the dam site.

It appears that neither the provincial Government nor WAPDA worked for the province to mitigate damaging floods. Guroh Dop Dam will produce about 500 MW of hydropower. It will provide irrigation facilities to a barren area of about 50,000 acres. In reality, it is a super flood control dam for Peshawar valley.

I submitted a pre-feasibility report of Guroh Dop Dam to WAPDA informing the provincial Government and the Ministry of Water and Power and Agriculture. No one took notice of it. Even 4 or 5 years back I informed the provincial Government to investigate Guroh Dop Dam and built it instead of the single purpose dam at Munda. No one took notice.

WAPDA is in deep misunderstanding that Munda Dam will control floods in Kabul River that is absolutely wrong. Munda Dam is a power project on run-of-the-river. It has nothing to do with flood control. Let no one be misguided.

Another beauty of Guroh Dop Dam is that Chitral River or Kunard River water in Chitral can be diverted to the catchment area of Guroh Dop Dam through a tunnel after building Mirkhani Dam. This will reduce floods in Kabul River and store water in Shigo Katch Reservoir of Guroh Dop Dam. This will further reduce floods in Kabul River and in the Indus River.

Kalam Dam

Kalam Dam site is located in the upper reach of Swat River. There was a proposal to build 480 feet high dam to store 0.46 maf of water and generate about 110 MW of hydropower. It is a multipurpose project on a small scale but can help mitigate sever flood flows generated from a small catchment area. It will help mitigate the peak of super floods on a small scale.

If the whole Peshawar valley is to be protected from future devastating floods then it is direly essential to build Guroh Dop Dam on Panjkora River and Kalam Dam on Swat River. We have no dam site on Kabul River in Pakistan.

Similarly to protect 25% to 30% of Pakistan area along the Indus River and on its both sides, it is direly essential to build the 35 MAF unique dam at Katzarah 20 miles downstream of Skardu town along with Basha Dam. In fact, as many dams as possible may be built on the Indus. Katzarah on the Indus is the key to flood control. We have no dam sites to control floods on Chinab River and Jehlum River. Therefore, floods in the Indus must completely be controlled.

I recommend that the Government of KP may officially write to the Federal Government to start work on Guroh Dop Dam and abandoned Munda Dam. Let Munda be built later on. Besides this, I recommend to build Kalam Dam on Swat River.

Moreover, it is direly essential to build the unique 35-maf Katzarah Dam even at the cost of postponing Basha Dam. These three dams will protect the population of Swat and Peshawar valleys besides the 22% land area of Pakistan destroyed by the combined floods of Kabul River and the Indus River system in the four provinces.

In future, super floods may be frequent due to global warming and climate change. On August 1929, the flood level at Nowshera was 951 feet. On 1841, the flood level at Nowshera was 975. This year 2010, the flood level is above 970.

In view of this, we must build dams as proposed to mitigate such furious floods and bring them to normal level. Not only this, we may face droughts, therefore storage dams are vital. Besides this, we must grow forests in the up land and along the banks of huge Lakes as of Tarbela Reservoir as water is available, and immediately ban cutting of trees.

More over, all the natural drains and their chocked waterways due to encroachments must be revived as required by the Canal and Drainage Act of 1887. This is necessary to contain floods to flow in their natural waterways. Presently, all drains in the country are blocked by encroachments and obstructions. The result is that floodwater spreads all over the irrigated fertile lands, severely damaging lands, crops, villages, populations and the infrastructures.

Freak weather

The super floods are more than super, as these are exceptionally high. I feel, these are not the monsoon floods. The floods seems to be due to global warming and climate change. One thing is intriguing, why super floods are Pakistan specific? There are no floods of such magnitude in the neighborhood that is in India, Napal, Iran, Afghanistan, and China. The weather department may be contacted to explain this quire phenomenon.

Pakistan floods are the biggest devastation on the planet earth as it hit about 25% to 30% of Pakistan. Some man-made interference with the environment may probably caused these unusual floods and devastation, causing a 50 billion dollar loss.

It is apparent that WAPDA is responsible for this irreparable loss of property and death of about 2000 people besides displacement of about 20 million people. This is because we failed to foresee building flood control dams in Kalabagh controversy and maintained status quo for 36 years. In fact, this loss is the after effects of status quo for Kalabagh Dam for not building Katzarah Dam and Guroh Dop Dam by WAPDA.

Pakistan is a sovereign, nuclear state. It is the responsibility of the Government to protect its people from external and internal aggression. Government should also protect its people from natural calamities, that is controllable like super floods but are more damaging than war. WAPDA remained inert after the construction of Tarbela Dam in 1974, a period of 36 years though the feasibility of Basha Dam was established in 1982. I hope Government arranges money to build Katzarah Dam, Guroh Dop Dam and Kalam Dam as flood protection dams. Basha Dam may be built to replace 5.0 maf storage lost in Tarbela Reservoir due to silting. Munda Dam may be built for power generation later on.