WAPDA's Ignorance Leads to Blunder

The daily "The News" dated 27/11/2010 published a news item under the title "Pakistan to be water-starved if dams not built says WAPDA Chairman". I agree!

But I disagree that "had Munda Dam been constructed, flooding would have been avoided in Nowshehra in August this year.The chairman informed that WAPDA was executing Munda dam on priority basis in the wake of devastating floods. This multipurpose project will not only help control floods but also ensure availability of irrigation water and provide low cost hydro-power."

The statement of WAPDA that Munda is flood control dam with the live storage capacity of 0.67maf and is on run of the river, is not only wrong but ridiculous. Charlatans in WAPDA and in bureaucracy are making fool of the government and the people who are devastated by floods.

A 500feet high, multipurpose, flood control, irrigation and hydro-power Guroh Dop Dam with storage capacity of 8.5maf, larger in storage then Basha Dam, generating about 500MW of hydro-power is located on Panjkora River 7-8 miles upstream  of Munda Dam. Where as, Munda Dam is located on the combined flow of River Swat and Panjkora.

Munda is single purpose dam basically designed for 740MW of hydro power (installed in capacity). Therefore, flood control, mega storage dam is the 8.5 maf Gurod Dop Dam and not 0.67 maf Munda Dam with negligible storage.
The real and most effective flood control dams to protect Pakistan from super floods are the 8.5 maf Guroh Dop Dam and the Unique 25 maf Katzarah Dam on the Indus River 20 miles downstream of Skardu.

How can 0.67 maf storage control 400,000 cusecs of flood water i.e. 560 times the storage of Munda in Kabul River.