1.

Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project:

Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project is a 1,450 MW run-of-the-
river hydropower connected to the Indus River about 10 km (6.2 mi) west
of Attock in Punjab, Pakistan. Construction of the project that began in 1995
consists of 5 generators each with a maximum power generation capacity of
290MW. Inauguration of the plant on 19 August 2003 by President General Pervez
Musharraf also saw the commissioning of the first 2 of the 5 generators i.e. Unit 1
and Unit 2. It cost US$2.1 billion with funding from Pakistan's Water and Power
Development Authority (WAPDA), About 1,600 cubic meter per second of water is
diverted from the Indus River near the town of Ghazi about 7 km downstream
of Tarbela Dam (3,478 MW). It then runs through a 100 metre wide and 9 metre
deep open power channel which is entirely concrete along its 52 km length down
to the village of Barotha where the power complex is located. In the reach from
Ghazi to Barotha, the Indus River inclines by 76 meters over a distance of 63 km.
After passing through the powerhouse, the water is returned to the Indus. In
addition to these main works, transmission lines stretch 225 km.

This note focuses only on the direct impact of the Project on water resources in
the downstream area upto the confluence of the Indus and Kabul rivers. The
barrage at Ghazi will drastically reduce the flow of water in the river during the
low-flow season from mid-October to mid-May. During the high-flow season, the
river downstream of the barrage will receive the majority of the flow from
Tarbela.
The concerns of the local population may not be visibly tied to economic
considerations, but rather stem from their historical access to the river
throughout the year. Even though the effects of the changed pattern of river flow
on the social and ecological conditions are discussed extensively in various
reports, they have been underestimated or not fully recognized.The effect on
groundwater on the right bank has been totally omitted in the reports. This will
need to be investigated before work on the Project commences.. It will also have
a severe impact on the moisture content in the soil as the area is mostly sandy
alluvial. The impact on cultivated land and forest is inevitable.The Project's impact
on human consumptive and non-consumptive use of water has been dismissed in the reports
since many of the villages on the right bank are located some distance from the low-flow water.
This summary treatment of the subject is unjustified. The people of the area have lived along
the river for centuries. They depend on it for drinking, washing and irrigation. They come to the
river for recreation, fishing and social gatherings. The people who frequent the river regularly
come from villages within ten kilometres of the river. Their dependence on the river cannot be
overstated.
 2. Chashma Barrage:
Chashma Barrage was constructed under the umbrella of Indus Basin
Replacement Works. It is located on river Indus about 56 Km downstream of
Jinnah Barrage. It’s purpose is to supply water to CJ-Link Canal on the left and
Chashma Right Bank Canal on its right side. Un-like other barrages, a small storage
reservoir has been provided at the Barrage to re-regulate the supplies of Tarbela
reservoir. Two head regulators, one for CJ-Link Canal and the other for CRBC exist
on the left and right banks respectively. The installed capacity of power Station is
184 MW, from eight Kaplan-type bulb turbine units, each with a 23 MW capacity.
The bulb turbines have been installed for the first time in Pakistan. The
Contractor for Chashma Barrage works was awarded to French Consortium
Societe Dumez and Societe Borie.

Chashma project however, suffers from multifarious deficiencies on the

environmental side. The permanent damages are irretrievable. Further damages
and some impacts of non-permanent in nature can be redressed or at least
mitigated. For this end in view, the following suggestions are offered by way of
illustration, for the eyes and ears of experts.

1.The environmental component of Chashma project must be revisited. The

review team should include environmental experts if not for a lead role, at least
as important members of the group.It should identify the deficiencies and
prepare action plan to remove these.

2.Realistic cost estimates should be prepared and funds arranged. Wapda should
bear the major brunt as it defaulted in the first instance. Moreover, it has now the
benefit of a continuous cash stream from its hydroelectric project.

3.Resettlement issue be reopened and it should be ensured that the displaced

persons get the facilities promised and committed at the time of eviction e.g.
hospitals, schools and organized townships. As a matter of fact, the facilities
might be upgraded to meet the current standards.

4.A bridge should be built across the lake (river Indus) so as to make the lake area
more accessible. This will greatly help in establishing rule of law, particularly, to
interrupt and mitigate the arms and drug trafficking.
3 . The Brooklyn Bridge:
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York
City and is one of the oldest roadway bridges in the United States. Started in 1869
and completed fourteen years later in 1883, it connects
the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, spanning the East River. It has a main
span of 1595.5 feet and was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed. It
was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and the East River Bridge,
but it was later dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge, a name coming from an earlier
January 25, 1867, letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and formally so
named by the city government in 1915. Since opening, it has become an icon of
New York City and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and
a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.

The bridge was built with numerous passageways and compartments in its
anchorages. New York City rented out the large vaults under the bridge's
Manhattan anchorage in order to fund the bridge. Opened in 1876, the vaults
were used to store wine, as they were always at (16 °C). This was called the "Blue
Grotto" because of a shrine to the Virgin Mary next to an opening at the
entrance.
 John Roebling would never get to see the bridge he had designed: he died after
crushing his foot in an accident. He wasn't the only one to lose his life during
the construction: 20 of the in total 600 workers died while working on the
bridge. The son of John Roebling, Washington Roebling, took over the
leadership of the project but he suffered from the caisson-disease as a result of
the works on the pillars of the bridge and was on his deathbed during the
inauguration. That day, May 24, 1883, about 150,000 people crossed the
bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge ranks as one of the greatest engineering feats of the
19th century and remains one of New York's most popular and well known
landmarks.

The impressive bridge spans the East river between Brooklyn and Manhattan and
stretches for a length of 5989 ft, about 1.8 km. The span between the large
towers measures 1595.5 ft (486 meters). This made the Brooklyn Bridge the
world's largest suspension bridge.The most noticeable feature of the Brooklyn
Bridge are the two masonry towers to which the many cables are attached. The
towers with large Gothic arches reach a height of 276 ft (84 meters), at the time
making them some of the tallest landmarks in New York. Roebling claimed that
the monumental towers would make the bridge a historic monument.
 4. Kalabagh Dam:
The Kalabagh Dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Indus
River at Kalabagh in the Mianwali District of Punjab Province in Pakistan.
Intensely debated, if constructed the dam would have 3,600 megawatts
(4,800,000 hp) of electricity generation capacity In December 2004, then
President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf, announced that he would
build the dam to serve the larger interest of Pakistan. However, on 26 May
2008, the Federal Minister for Water and Power of Pakistan, Raja Pervez
Ashraf, said that the "Kalabagh Dam would not be constructed" and that the
project had been cancelled due to "opposition from Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and other stakeholders, the project was no longer
feasible In 2010 after the worst floods in Pakistani history, the Prime Minister
of Pakistan, Yousaf Raza Gilani, stated flood damage would be minimised if the
Kalabagh Dam were built.

The Kalabagh dam is controversial for many reasons. A key reason has to do with
the decision making process, which is highly centralized, politically coercive, and
technically flawed. Regrettably, when the need is for broad-based stakeholder
consultations, the existing trend is towards even greater centralization. For
instance, the rotating chairmanship of the Indus River System Authority has
recently been converted into a permanent appointment, provincial resolutions
against Kalabagh have been given short shrift, the Council of Common Interests
(CCI) has consistently ignored the matter and community concerns continue to be
met with blatant disregard. Small wonder then that the political leadership in the
smaller provinces and civil society are up in arms against Kalabagh.

It was planned that Kalabagh Dam is going to have power units each generating
300MW, 12 in quantity with the turbine head design of 170 feet. The complete
powerhouse was an indoor one and the production in the initial phase was
expected to be around 2400MW and ultimately rise to 3600MW in the running
phase.

Apart from the economic point of view, the Kalabagh Dam Project has several
social benefits too out of which settling down of the grievance from Southern
Punjab are the greatest of all. Kalabagh Dam is going to irrigate major parts of
Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar therefore a major grievance from the region will
be settled down itself. In addition, Punjab province does not claim any royalty on
the generation of resources from Kalabagh Dam, it is just the deficiency of trust
that does not let this project happen. Kalabagh Dam, once constructed will render
a number of advantages to the country both socially and economically cutting
short the power deficit that prevails in the country .
 5. Attock Bridge:
Attock Bridge is situated between Attock Khurd and Khairabad Kund on Indus
river in Pakistan. It is commonly known as "Old Attock Bridge". This bridge is one
of the most important strategic and commercial crossing on the Indus
River between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, hence was
heavily fortified. It was originally designed by Sir Guildford Molesworth and was
opened to traffic on 24 May 1883. The cost of construction was more than Rs 3.2
millions. This bridge was a part of famous Grand Trunk Road. In 1979 a new
bridge was constructed and road traffic was shifted to there. This new bridge is
known as "New Attock Bridge”.
The structure was redesigned by Sir Francis Callaghan and was reconstructed in
1929, at the cost of Rs 2.5 millions. The bridge has 2 levels and 5 spans. Three
spans are 257 feet long and two are 312 feet long. The upper level is use for
railway traffic and lower level was used for road traffic.

The crossing at Attock was considered very important for military strategic
reasons. In 1853, Lieut. W A Crommelin, from the Public Works Department.
proposed two designs, both which made use of suspension bridges to cross the
Indus. These proposals were not adopted.
The bridge was reconstructed between 1926-1929 by replacing the longer spans.
The trusses were also extended for two sections of the bridge, at the cost of Rs
2.5 millions. The bridge has 2 levels and 5 spans. Three spans are 257 feet long
and two are 312 feet long. The upper level is use for railway traffic and lower level
was used for road traffic. The approaches to the bridge were built as solid
fortifications - as a defense against raids from nearby Pashtun tribesmen. This
bridge was a part of famous Grand Trunk Road .