Kalabagh Dam
Kalabagh Dam
Kalabagh Dam
Disturbance of habitat
The formation of large and huge dams destroys the living beings around
them. Local life is disturbed as human cant live in such a flooded area and
plants are destroyed. People living nearby have to relocate.
Installation costs
Although the effective cost is zero but the manufacturing and building a dam
and installation of the turbines is very costly due to which many countries do
not employ this alternative source of energy. If the initial cost had been less;
then it would have used more commonly. Its construction requires a lot of
human capital and labor. Its maintenance is also very costly.
Limited use
As the hydroelectric power is produced by the water which depend on the
yearly rain falls so only those areas can use this method which receives a
good amount of rainfall water because this method needs a huge reservoir
of water.
Effects on agriculture
Making dams on rivers affect the amount, quality and temperature of water
that flow in streams which has drastic effects on agriculture and drinking
water.
Fish killing
The water while flowing through the dam collects nitrogen which can
damage and also kills fish. They can also damage the reproduction of fishes
thus eliminating the whole species of fishes.
Deposition of silt
So the research is going on decrease its disadvantages and to make it
happen on a large scale.
1) Sui Gas has been used for over 50 years but abject poverty in
the Sui area and the angry local population make things
difficult.
2) Chashma Barrage was completed 35 years ago without
rehabilitating thousands of landless tenants, poor farmers and their
families uprooted from the katcha areas. The barrage has provided
two mighty canals one to irrigate south Punjab and the other D. I.
Khan without sharing irrigation water with Mianwali. It is also
generating 185MW hydel power but Mianwali faced the worst
voltage fluctuations for several years, even before the present power
crisis. So benefits worth billions of rupees are being derived from
Sui Gas and Chashma Barrage every year without sharing them with
the local population.
As far as the Kalabagh Dam goes, it will have disadvantages that
will require remedial measures.
In Punjab, the local population of the submerged and lake
surrounded towns and villages between the dam and Attock Bridge
will be uprooted.
The strategic rail 1ink between North West and South Pakistan via
Mari Indus will be lost forever.
The busy and strategic road and rail link between Punjab and KP
through Khushalgarh Bridge will be disrupted.
The local population of lowlands surrounding the lake too is likely
to be uprooted due to salinity and water logging.
Output of the hydel power plant at Barotha may be adversely
affected, depending upon the height of the dam. Therefore, various
advantages and disadvantages of the Kalabagh Dam should be
identified for logical comparisons.
The majestic River Indus originates at 5183 metres above sea level in the glaciers
one of the mightiest rivers of the world, ten times bigger than Colorado River and
twice as large as the Nile. On its long voyage of more than 3,000 km it is
augmented by 10 major rivers __ Kabul, Swat, Kunhar, Haro and Soan in the
northern Frontier Province and Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Bias at Panjnad
in the province of Punjab. The ferocious Indus, more than a million cusecs at its
peak flood time, passes through 500 km of Sindh province to disperse in the salt
water of Arabian Sea. This large body of water varying widely between 200 to 120
million acre feet (MAF), depending upon the quantum of rainfall and snowfall in
the Himalayas, provides agricultural and water needs of 130 million people of
Pakistan and lately a large population of India. But for the province of Sindh it has
a unique and significant presence. Flowing through the whole length of Sindh and
wide, during its peak flood season (July 20 to Sep 30). For this strip of about 2
million acres, 595,000 acres of which are dense forests and 600,000 acres rich
grazing land, River Indus is the only life line providing it with rich nutrient and
moisture.
At the ends of its travel the river cascades into a delta where, over the centuries, it
has developed a 650,000 acre thick mangrove forest which sustains exotic and
colourful life in plants, reptiles and mammals. All of this, and much more is under
threat now. Since 1859 when through upper Bari Doab Canal water was first drawn
from Ravi, 19 barrages and 43 canal heads with 48 offtakes have been built on
acres of land. When in 1960 Indus Basin Treaty was signed between India and
Pakistan, India was apportioned the exclusive use of Ravi, Sutlej and Bais and
further right on the water of remaining 3 rivers to irrigate 1.3 million acres of land.
Jhelum river for storage of 6.4 MAF and Tarbela and Chashma on river Indus for
storing 11.9 MAF and 1.8 MAF, respectively. The effect of the loss of three rivers
to India and demand of further 114 MAF for irrigation needs of 4 provinces of
Pakistan has reduced the once mighty Indus to a trickle when it passes through
Sindh. Kalabagh dam While the kutcha area and deltaic eco-system is under threat
of their survival, government of Pakistan and Punjab and the most populous and
electric power and store 6.1 MAF water but to actually draw a further 6 MAF
will be felt severely by Frontier Province: 1. 182,000 acres of productive land will
be lost under the reservoir. 2. 34,000 people will be displaced (with another 59,000
(Nowshera town itself will stand 24 feet below on the height of Kalabagh storage)
with, at worst, horrible termination if the dykes break, or at best, serve degradation
of land by water-logging in about 20 years times. Sindh the worst sufferer of
degradation of nature
1. Availability of Water: As lower riparian, Sindh has suffered the most due to
Despite much tinkering of figures by those who favour Kalabagh dam, fact
years out of 5 (80 percent probability) is 123.59 MAF. The water accord
for their needs and the system losses (occurring in the bed of the rivers)
16.2 MAF calculated by WAPDA between 1977-91, after Tarbela dam was
constructed). The balance is negative 0.76 MAF flowing into the sea.
The Indus inundates an average 4-km wide strip of kutcha land of about
million acres, 595,000 acres of which are thick forests and another 600,000
rich grazing lands. This strip husbands a substantial number of cattle, goats
and fowls and economically sustains about one million people. All this is
now threatened.
i) The progressive decline of water over the last 50 years has led to soil
erosion and accretion so that succession of fresh plants is considerably on
ii) Many plants specifically grow in kutcha areas. One such species,
extinction.
iii) Loss of moisture coupled with wind erosion has caused soil degradation
is estimated that 2 million heads of cattle are reared on 600,000 acres of the
the shape of loss of dairy and meat products and economic and social well
iv) With recession of water comes drying up of wells and ponds in kutcha
i) The changing of River Indus over millions of years has created thousands
of lakes and ponds in Thatta and Badin, two southern districts of Sindh.
ii) Sindh is home to some of Asia's largest natural lakes, the Manchchar,
Haleji, Hadero, Keenjhar and Chotiari. Manchchar the 700 sq km. lake in
Dadu, that can store 1 MAF, and Chotiari in Sanghar that can store 0.4 MAF
These lakes are winter and summer home to thousands of migratory birds
from Kazakhstan and Siberia, who use what is known as "Indus Fly Way" to
as to beat the severe Siberian winter. All this is threatened to be lost for ever.
The 222 type of birds that are so far reportedly seen in Haleji, Hadero,
Meenjhar (Kalari) and Chotiari ranging from Pelicans to Pintails and from
Black Drango to white swams make these lakes a bird watcher's paradise
and have been declared a wild life sanctuary by the government of Sindh.
The mangrove forest in Indus delta is spread over 650,000 acres and is the
6th largest mangrove forest in the world. Fed through the nutrient carried by
100 million tons of silt by river Indus each year, the mangrove estuaries are
the most productive forests, protecting and nurturing thousands of botanic,
the principal components of the delta ecosystem, without them and the
nutrients they recycle and the protection they provide, the other components
mangrove habitat is destroyed then the continued existence in the Indus delta
The mangrove estuaries are 4-5 times more productive than tropical
production of 0.4 m tons (1989 figures) most of which pass some part of its
6. Health problems
There are about 40 major cities located on the banks of Indus or its
tributaries. The raw sewerage of which is discharged directly into the water
of Indus. Added to the decreasing quantity of water flowing in the river, the
population has crested on epidemic like situation in Sindh where water borne
Karachi and ravages the whole country almost every year. This viral
world that nature has established a Blanca of elements that must not be
Out of the 40,000 small and big dams erected throughout the world, more
than half of which are in China, many have brought prosperity and well
being to the people but in the case of most mega dam the result is
All those favouring Kalabagh dam must know that there is hard scientific
evidence, collected in the United States and available to any one, that
that takes 50 to 60 years for the trees to mature. When the soil is removed
fresh water, reforestation will be much more time consuming and the forests
start to die.
In the United States, Colorado rivers used to flow into Gulf of California.
With the construction of huge Hoover dam and myriad other hydro electric
dams, the flow to the sea disappeared with horrific results wiping out entire
of its share of Colorado's water, The United States will be making reparation
to Mexico forever.
(ii) Storing 6.1 MAF water, at a cost of US $ 5.0 billion (1987 cost). This
world that small storage dams and power generation units are much more
feasible and maintainable than mega dams. WAPDA has estimated potential
project that can produce 1450 MW and is a run of the river project that does
not propose storing water. Other identified sites are Dasu, Bhasha, Thakot,
About storing water, all dams so far built, or proposed to be built, on Indus
River System, are such that they will store about 150 MAF water in flood
season for release in the lean period of the same year for wheat sowing
Super floods occur in Indus River Systems once in every 5 or 6 years when
more than a million cusecs water flows out of sea. If there were a dam to
60 percent or roughly 60 MAF, is lost in the system (15 MAF is lost in river
water courses and on farms). This percolation of water renders 100,000 acres
money earmarked for Kalabagh dam (US $ 5.0 billion at 1987 price) the
lined and crash training programme mounted for farmers in the proper
MAF double the storage capacity of Kalabagh. The added benefit will be the
1. Sixth most populous country- estimated population in 2010 over 169 million . Occupies a
crossroad position between South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East. Has 1,046
kilometers coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south. Bordering
Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in northeast. Tajikistan also lies
very near, separated by a narrow Wakhan corridor. Semi-industrialized economy which
mainly encompasses textiles, chemicals, food processing and agriculture. 3
2. 4. 4
3. 5. 5
4. 6. 6
5. 7. Pakistan needs about 20,000MW electricity per day. Presently, it can produce about
11, 500 MW per day The demand exceeds supply and hence load- shedding is a
common phenomenon through frequent power shutdowns. If the country wishes to
continue its economic development and improve the quality of life of its people, it has to
make serious efforts towards framing a coherent energy policy. 7
6. 8. Uneven distribution of energy supplies led to significant vulnerabilities. Sabotage of
natural resources through warfare or terrorism especially gas fields. Accidents and natural
disasters. Most of its energy demand is being met with either Hydro power or thermal
units. Spending a very large amount of foreign exchange to purchase the furnace. The
gas reserves already start depleting and oil price is increasing globally. 8
7. 9. 9
8. 10. Hydropower Wind Energy Coal Reserves Solar Energy Biogas 10
9. 11. 11
10. 12. The feasibility study should include following field work. Detailed Mapping of the
area Topographic study of the area Seismic refraction study River flow data
Weather data containing, Temperatures, pressures, rain humidity Environmental study
Social impact Wild life and fish study Identification of stake holders of the area 12
11. 13. The wind map developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA in
collaboration with USAID, has indicated a potential of 346,000 MW in Pakistan. The first
requirement of conducting feasibility study is to install a wind mast. The following issues
should be discussed detail 1. Birds collision or alteration of their migration routes 2.
Noise impact 3. Flickering 13
12. 14. Pakistan has the 7th largest coal reserve in the world and we only produce 0.2% of
electricity from it! A Single Thar coal reserve of Sindh is about 850 Trillion Cubic Feet.
Just 2% usage of Thar coal can produce 20,000 Mega Watts of electricity for next 40 years,
without any single second of Load Shedding. However, the aspect of Pollution should be
kept in mind but coal is one of the cheapest ways to produce electricity, thats why countries
like Australia produce 77% of their electricity from coal. 14
13. 15. Solar energy has excellent potential in areas of Pakistan that receive high levels of
solar radiation throughout the year. The country receives an average of about 19 Mega
Joules per square meter of solar energy. Presently, not enough work or research being
done on this potential. This is a great aspect especially for villages which are not
connected to the national grid and are deprived of electricity altogether. 15
14. 16. Pakistan has almost 3,000 MW power generation potential in sugar industry through
biogas, but it is hardly producing some 700MW. Pakistan has almost 159 million animals
that produce almost 652 million kilogram of manure daily from cattle and buffalo only, which
can be used to generate 16.3 million-cubic-meters biogas per day and 21 million tones of bio
fertilizer per year. A biogas unit of 10-cubic-meter size is anticipated to save almost
Rs92,062 per annum on account of conventional fuels spent. 16
15. 17. Despite all the potentials indicated; I think more focus should be given to renewable
such as Solar, Biogas and Wind energies. 7876 out of 40,000 of un-electrified villages
cannot be connected to the national gird for another 20 years due to their distance from the
national grid, due to lack of technical and economical facilities available. Solar panels can
be installed in individual villages, according to their demands. Those villages which have
more manure produced can be benefited from biogas plants; more jobs would also be
created for people. 17
16. 18. Due to the broadness of this project I would like to narrow down the number of villages
to a few for my research and final proposal especially in Sindh and Balochistan province.
These two provinces get the most of the Solar radiation. I have to further research to
indicate the actual number of villages I am going to choose and propose the Solar energy
project to. More research is required in, cost estimation, risk planning, communication
planning. 18
17. 19. After this research is completed; I hope to propose this to Govt.of Pakistan. I believe
that Pakistan can be proved to be a really good prospective territory for investments for
foreign Solar energy focused companies. If all goes according to the plan; I expect I would
be able to give collected data into physical form which would be done by installation of the
technologies identified and operation. For both the economic and social benefit of the local
community, people would be given trainings for operation, monitoring and maintenance. 19
18. 20. A few of the projects benefits would be that people would have; Access to electricity
Access to communication & information facilities Access to new technology Improved
living conditions Access to safe drinking water Improved health conditions More
employment opportunities and increased income Poverty alleviation More working hours
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