FAISALABAD: Commenting on a new item that government has given a positive nod to construct five dams in the country, Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) told that FCCI was fully cognizant of the repercussions of depleting water resources on national economy and had floated a proposal to construct Chiniot Dam about a decade ago to meet the future needs of water for drinking and irrigation purposes.
He told that on the written request of FCCI the previous government had started work on Chiniot Dam while WAPDA had also completed a comprehensive feasibility report of this Dam. He told that the proposed dam will have storage capacity of 0.85 Million Acre Feet (MAF) which could be utilized for irrigation purposes during drought like conditions. “It could also help government to avoid loses due to floods”, Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain said, adding that Faisalabad is one of the fastest growing city of the country and availability of additional water is imperative to meet its future needs. He further told that location of Chiniot dam is ideally suitable for the construction of a water reservoir with minimum cost.
Quoting the feasibility report of Chiniot Dam, he told that it will be earth-filled dam with height of 60 feet. “It could also generate 80 megawatt of cheap electricity”, he told and said that the estimate cost of this dam is approximately Rs.146.330 million and hence, there would be no need of any foreign aid for its construction. He further told that new canals could also be dug on its right and left banks to irrigate huge terrenes of unclaimed land in Faisalabad division. “It will fulfill the drinking needs of the people settled in localities along the banks of these proposed canals”, he told and demanded that government should immediately start construction work on this project as any unnecessary delay will escalate its construction cost. President FCCI told that he will have a meeting with Chairman WAPDA Lieutenant General Retired Muzammil Hussain to discuss the preliminary formalities for the construction of Chiniot Dam. “The issue for the up-gradation of WAPDA Engineering Academy into a full-fledged university will also be discussed”, he added and told spade work in this regard has already been completed as previous governments had categorically assured to elevate this academy into a university.
