Sanjwal-Akhori Dam site

There is a general trend by WAPDA to select dam sites at random without caring for Capacity-inflow ratio to have long life span, unlike the Kalabagh Dam. WAPDA selects dam sites on political grounds that becomes controversial besides problematic. After committing blunders, WAPDA sticks to it, creating status quo indefinitely like as of Kalabagh. A dam site on a river should be given priority that should have multipurpose functions with long life span. Each dam on the upstream of a river supports the dam on the downstream by prolonging its life span besides producing hydropower, controlling floods and silt, and help proper development.  

WAPDA selects faulty dam sites, ignoring their multipurpose merits, like in case of Akhori, the indirect reservoir off the natural channel. Akhori is almost single purpose off-channel storage dam. This shows WAPDA has no vision to find dam sites on the mighty Indus. Therefore the country is deprived of many functions of direct reservoir. Indirect Reservoir has no silt control function. Indirect reservoir is unable to mitigate floods like the direct reservoir. Basically Akhori is not a power project. It’s a water project. We direly need multipurpose power project to remove crippling load shedding and control flood. There is therefore dire need of direct storage dams on the Indus like the 35 maf unique Katzarah Dam followed by Raised Fateh Barrage as the genuine substitute for Kakabagh Dam.

Please note, there are no dam sites on Kabul River, Jehlum River and Chenab River. Indus is the only river that is the life line of Pakistan and the 35 maf Katzarah Dam is the key to all of Water, Power, Silt, and Floods problems. Indus River multipurpose potentials must be given top priority by its early construction to remove shortage of power, and water, besides controlling crippling load shedding and flood havoc as of 2010 and control silt. Pakistan is hard hit by climate change. Indirect reservoirs should be given the last priority if found feasible. I warn of floods like of 2010. Floods will visit again and again as climate change is severe and unpredictable.

WAPDA may note that Dr Pieter Lieftnic Head of the World Bank Team in his report in three volumes “Water and Power Resources of West Pakistan” volume I page 269 and 292, rejected Akhori Dam due to serious foundation problems and, other considerations. As such, Akhori Dam was superseded by Gariala Dam.

Akhori Dam was proposed on Haro River, with a height of 250 feet, creating a gross storage of 3.6 maf, and live storage of 3.3 maf. This was proposed fearing that Tarbela Reservoir will silt up soon as it has poor capacity-inflow ratio. The length of Akhori Dam would be 15,800 feet. Dr Pieter Lieftnick report Volume I, page 269 states that “inordinate amount of earth moving would be involved and that serious foundation problems would be encountered at each site”. Cut-off grouting would be required along the axis of Sanjwal Dam, the embankment of which would be 12.5 miles long and extensive treatment would be required at Akhori. In view of this and other considerations, Akhori project was deemed less favorable than Gariala”, page 269. Dr Lieftnick report says, “Akhori is superseded by Gariala”.(Page 292).

 In spite of all these serious faults WAPDA selects the next dam at Akhori with a height of 420 feet against the original height of 250 feet to bring early doom of water and power- a blow that an enemy will not inflict.

Ignoring all these serious drawbacks WAPDA is going ahead with Akhori Dam with a raised height of 420 feet against 250 feet. This shows political influence. Sindh will not agree to Akhori Dam, specially for its location in Punjab in view of mistrust already prevailing. Besides this, water diversion for Akhori Dam and water diversion for Ghazi Barotha Channel will render Indus River reach from Ghazi Barotha to Attock absolutely dry. The people on the downstream will seriously suffer. River water rights cannot be denied to the area of NWFP by diverting the river flow in this reach.

Dr Pieter Lieftnick report pages 265 and 266 reports that,

“In recognition of high rate of depletion of storage capacity at Tarbela, various proposals have been put forward by the Pakistan authorities for auxiliary (side-valley storage) reservoirs on the Haro and Soan Rivers which would be filled by the diversion of the Indus water through canals from the Siren Arm of Tarbela Reservoir. A study of the proposal, however, suggests that the cost of dams considered in connection with the cost of conveyance canals, would make construction of side-valley storage project as expensive, than as reservoirs on the main stem of the Indus”.

 This means that only the cost of conveyance of water system will be equal to the cost of dam. The raised Akhori Dam will cost three times more than a dam on the main stem of the Indus River besides many other complications. Dr Lieftnick reports:   

“For any such undertaking, Tarbela would have to be built to elevation 1565 feet in order to facilitate the transference of water across the divide. Also because diversion would be possible only when Tarbela Reservoir might be full or nearly full, it would be necessary to fill Tarbela as soon as possible each flood season.” page  266. Will rise in elevation of Tarbela by 15 feet will be possible? Raising by 15 feet will submerge vast area.

 “A canal with a capacity of 76000 cusecs with ancillary structures including dams, siphons, aqueducts, bridges and culverts would be constructed from the Siren Arm of Tarbela Reservoir to Jabba Kas River, a tributary of Haro River for storage at Sanjwal Akhori site” page 266. “The operation of the conveyance would be complicated by the fact that it will be empty for some nine months in each year. Maintenance cost would particularly be heavy”. Page 268.

 Moreover, Akhori is single purpose storage dam with almost no power or nominal power component to generate electricity. There is dire need for hydropower, therefore multipurpose dams producing hydropower should first be built on the main stem of the Indus River rather indulging in complicated, single purpose storage dams on side-valley. There is news in today’s paper, dated 29^th June, 2011 wherein WAPDA chairman said that load shedding would continue till 2018 and that power demand by the year 2030 would be 130,000 MW.

I believe, load shedding would continue till Katzarah Dam, Basha Dam, Raised Fateh Barrage, Guroh Dop Dam and Mirkhani dams are built. Bunji Dam and Dasu Dams are also vital. It is senseless to propose off channel Akhori and call it alternative to Kalabagh. The alternative to Kalabagh is Raised Fateh Barrage on the Indus. The present shortage of power is a backlog of the past 46 years for not building any multipurpose dam. The concerned authorities were busy in Kalabagh controversy, therefore status quo in dam construction prevailed for (36+10)=46 years. This resulted in water shortage, crippling load shedding and devastating floods of 2010. Now Akhori will replace Kalabagh in controversy.

It is surprising no one critically studied the Kalabagh consultants report for its infeasible hydraulic design of 50 days restricted mid-level silt sluicing to evacuate silt. KBD consultants recommended 100 days unrestricted low level silt sluicing. Exactly is the case of Akhori Dam, as no one studied Dr Pieter Lieftnick report, who rejected Akhori Dam due to serious foundation problem.  Refer to The Water and Power Resources of West Pakistan.             

It is shocking to know that Dr Pieter Lieftnick rejected Akhori Dam on sound technical grounds even then WAPDA appointed local consultant to prepare a fresh feasibility report for a greater height of Akhori Dam to store more water and generate little power. The new proposal for Akhori is that the height of the dam is raised from 250 feet to 420 feet, to create 7.0 maf of storage reservoir in place of 3.6 maf. The length of the dam with high embankments would increase to 25,000 feet.

To fill the originally proposed reservoir of 3.6 maf, a canal with 76000 cusecs was required. It is surprising to note that Akhori Dam that is infeasible due to serious foundation problems for a height of 250 feet, how can it be feasible for a height of 420 feet, to create 7.0 maf storage? The new proposal will require a conveyance canal with a discharge of 150,000 cusecs to fill it. Will that much water be possible to divert in two to three months time? Will a channel virtually equivalent to a river waterway be possible to built to convey water? What would be the consequences of such diversion on Ghazi-Barotha Power generation, and on the water rights of the downstream people in NWFP? The cost of project would be unbearable. The channel would remain dry for 9 to 10 months a year with heavy maintenance cost.

Akhori will follow the example of failures of first Kachi canal, drainage projects of SCARPs, NDP, and selecting controversial project of KBD.  

I believe, it may not be possible to fill the reservoir of 7.0 maf storage capacity during the monsoon. Moreover, elevation of 1565 feet for the diversion of water may not be able to maintain for three continuous months of monsoon period.

The construction of single purpose side-valley reservoirs should be the last option when all the direct reservoirs on the Indus are silt up. First, direct reservoirs should be built as they are multipurpose, cheap and easy to build. When all direct storage sites are exhausted, then consider the side-valley storage. The side-valley reservoirs are three to four times more costly than direct reservoirs. Moreover, side-valley projects are problematic. 

The most difficult and alarming aspect of side-valley storage is a condition that Tarbela reservoir should be raised by 15 feet (1550+15) = 1565 feet for the transference of water It is yet to be examined, if it is technically, and environmentally feasible to raise the height of Tarbela Dam by 15 feet. Moreover, the consequences of raised Tarbela Dam shall have to be examined, how much area is going to be submerged under the raised reservoir? How many people would be displaced? The cost of compensation may be worked out. The raising of Tarbela Dam is yet another technical hurdle of the side-valley storage besides its cost.      

Copy to,

Secretary Water and Power, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad

It is requested that WAPDA may be asked if they have read Dr Peter Lieftnick report on Akhori Dam that it is superseded by Gariala Dam and that Akhori has serious foundation problems. Moreover, it requires raising the height of Tarbela Dam by 15 feet to elevation 1565 feet for the diversion of water from Tarbela Reservoir to fill Akhori. Will it be possible to raise the height of Tarbela Dam? How much area will it inundate? Will it be possible to build a dam with a height 420 feet when foundation for a dam with 250 encounters serious foundation problems? Has WAPDA studied the effects of diversion of about 150,000 cusecs of water on power generation of Tarbela Dam and Ghazi Barotha power channel? Will it be possible to constantly maintain elevation of about 1565? Akhori is a single purpose dam. We need multipurpose dam to generate hydropower.

Please arrange study of the adverse effects of single purpose Akhori Dam that suffers from many problems as reported by Dr Pieter Lieftnic Head of the World Bank Team to Pakistan who investigated dam sites and other water and power developments schemes. Pakistan cannot afford to build infeasible and controversial dams and waste time. Multipurpose dams must be planned on technical merits to have long life span, control floods and silt and generate power.

Chairman IRSA Government of Pakistan. The authority is created for regulating and monitoring the distribution of water resources of the Indus River and to provide for matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto. IRSA has to play the role of a monitor for monitoring the water resources in selecting long life storage dam sites, as it is a connected and ancillary matter. This is what the IRSA Act Preamble reveals.

Pakistan is woefully unprepared for new floods. The 2010 devastating floods can be repeated any time and many times. I therefore suggest building of the 35-maf multipurpose Katzarah dam as Katzarah will control floods in the Indus, and the 8.5 maf multipurpose dam at Guroh Dop on Panjkora River to control floods in Kabul River. There is no remedy to control floods other than the combination of the two dams as proposed. Akhori is out of line and irrelevant under this situation.

The real alternative to Kalabagh Dam is the Raised Fateh Barrage as already suggested by me and not Akhori Dam rejected by Dr Pieter Leiftnic Head of the World Bank Team specially appointed to identify and investigate dams sites indicating their pre-feasibilities besides Water Resources Development Schemes.  .