Diamer-Bhasha Dam is the name of a dam that has been planned in the Northern Areas of Pakistan on the River Indus. Diamer Basha Dam Project will be the highest Roller compacted concrete Dam in the world, height of 272 meters spillway with fourteen (14) gates.
Total cost & capacity of the project
The cost of the Diamer-Bhahsa dam is $12.6 billion (November,2008) and it will have a storage capacity of 6,340,000 acre feet (7.82×109 m3) as against the earlier proposed 7,340,000 acre feet (9.05×109 m3). However, it will have a power generation capacity of 4,500 megawatts.
Merits
Availability of about 6,400,000 acre feet (7.89×109 m3) annual surface face water storage for supplementing irrigation supplies during low flow periods. Employment opportunity, particularly to the locals, during the construction and operation. Reduction of dependence on thermal power, thus saving foreign exchange.
Demerits
However, the construction of the dam will cause the sinking of over 50,000 ancient rock carvings, destroying precious archaeological evidence of inhabitation of the area since the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic eras. Moreover 38 villages and 2800 families will be affected from this project.
Conclusion
However this project has some demerits but keeping present problems in mind the project has became a serious need as Kalabagh dam has many political issues....
