Pakistan’s catastrophic floods this year overshadowed the Indus River’s pivotal role in irrigating the country’s farmland and generating its electricity. But even as river levees tumbled, engineers were completing plans to enlarge generating capacity of the Indus’ mighty Tarbela dam by 27% and to build the even larger Diamer Basha hydro project farther upstream.
Diamer Basha will be sited more than 300 kilometers upriver of Tarbela but will, nevertheless, boost the lower plant’s output by reducing sedimentation. Since Tarbela’s completion some 36 years ago, siltation in the river has reduced its reservoir capacity by nearly 30%, according to data from S. Tanveer Abbas and Izhar-ul-Haq, technical services department principals at the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).