PM Imran Inaugurates Mohmand Dam at The Groundbreaking Ceremony

Prime Minister Imran Khan and former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Mohmand Dam on Thursday: source Radio Pakistan.

Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda was the first to address the ceremony. He thanked Prime Minister Imran, the retired chief justice, the army chief and the Water and Power Development Authority chairman for efforts in building the dam.

"We have not only started the preliminary works but for the first time have received Rs18 billion straight discount," he said while addressing the premier.

"We have created 27,000-28,000 jobs in the Mohmand and Diamer-Bhasha dam projects that we will soon hire for," Vawda said

Prime Minister Imran, earlier visited Tirah Valley to attend a sports gala, began his speech with a reference to Vawda's earlier address.

He pointed out that the Mangla and Tarbela dams were built in the 60s during Ayub’s era when Pakistan was progressing rapidly. After that time the country had stopped progressing and was facing huge debt, he said.

He said that even though former president Ayub Khan was a military dictator, he should be praised for "thinking in the long term" and building dams.

He further said that the reason behind the development of China was that they had planned 20 years ahead. "They don't care about the elections," he said.

He thanked former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar for taking up the initiative to highlight the importance of dams even though the "matter should have been raised by the country's prime minister".

Former chief justice’s remarks include,

'Hopeful dam will be completed in time'

Former chief justice Nisar also addressed the ceremony and highlighted the nation's generous contribution towards the dam fund. About the importance of building dams, he said: "Water is our life."

"The Supreme Court hasn't done a favour to anyone since it initiated the dam fund. It has become a campaign and a movement," he said.

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Dr Noorul Haq Qadri, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shah Farman and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan were also present on the occasion.

Mohmand Dam

The Mohmand Dam will be built on the Swat river and completed by Rs 183 billion by 2024. The dam can store 1.2 million acres of water. It will produce about 800 MW of electricity after being completed. The building of the dam is considered essential in order to solve the country's water scarcity and electricity shortfall. The Public Sector Development Program 2018-19 was allocated a sum of Rs2bn for the project.

The former JCP had paid close attention to the issue of water scarcity and ordered the creation of the Dam Fund in July last year. He appealed to the general public and overseas Pakistanis for donations for the construction of the Mohmand Dam and the Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

According to the data of State Bank of Pakistan in December 2018, SC former judge's initiative was later joined by the prime minister. Within a span of 5 months, a total of Rs8.46bn was deposited in The Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund.