River Indus Diverted for Dasu Hydropower Project

The Dasu Hydropower Project recently reached a key milestone when the first of two detour tunnels were constructed and the strong river Indus was securely rerouted from its natural flow. As per a press release, the river is currently running through a 1.33 km tunnel with a width of 20 meters and a height of 23 meters. As a response, work on the starting dam has commenced, which will eventually lead to the project’s main dam. The Dasu Hydropower Project’s General Manager and Project Director, officials from contractors and consultants, as well as several engineers and laborers were in attendance for the historic occasion. WAPDA Chairman Engr. Lt. Gen. Sajjad Ghani (retd.) praised the development team on this achievement. According to the press release, the project’s diversion system includes tunnel A and tunnel B. Tunnel B is finished and can divert water from the Indus river during the lean season. Tunnel A, which is 1.5 kilometers long, 20 meters wide, and 23 meters high, will be finished by mid-April to accommodate the increasing flow of water during the high-flow season. The Dasu Hydropower Project is a critical component of WAPDA’s strategy to create low-cost, ecologically sustainable electricity. The project is being developed across the Indus River, upstream of Dasu town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)’s Upper Kohistan region. The overall installed power generation capacity of the project will be 4,320 MW, including stage-I of 2,160 MW slated to commence power generation in 2026. After stage II is finished, it will add 9 billion units of electricity to the National Grid. When all stages are completed, the Dasu Hydropower Project will have the greatest annual energy output in Pakistan, generating an average of 21 billion units per year.