Revisiting dams construction quality in Balochistan

Balochistan is a province dominated by an arid climate, with 85% dependency on Agriculture and livestock. The precipitation ratio compared to the rest of the country is shallow, making water a precious commodity for its population. Therefore, to meet the needs of its population, respective governments resorted to the construction of weirs, canals, channels, and dams, with the small and big dams tally touching around 1085 figures. This is undoubtedly the most significant number of dams in all four provinces to meet the needs of Balochistan people, mainly dependent on agriculture and livestock businesses. However, recent climatic impacts and torrential rains in the province have raised many questions about the quality of construction of these dams, as dozens of dams suffered damages due to heavy downpours. Experts believe some technical flaws or the absence of globally recognized development protocols prevented these dams from sustaining the changing weather patterns. They think the effectiveness of dams -the sole source of hope for residents of Balochistan’s parched land – could not pay off fully due to reasons like improper management, quality of construction, and lack of research institutes on rainfall and disaster risk reduction procedures. “Garuk Dam constructed in Kharan district is one such example where better planning could save billions of rupees,” stated an Engineer of the Irrigation department. He revealed that as per PC-1, the cost of this under-construction dam was estimated at Rs 12 billion, but it reached Rs 27 billion. “The height of the dam in revised PC-I is decreased from 55m (180 ft) to 52m (171 ft), but the live storage capacity is increased from 24,896 AF to 27,073 AF.” Moreover, he said the discharge capacity has also increased from 60 Cusecs to 73.1 Cusecs, increasing the cost of the spillway from Rs.1150.620 million to Rs. 5797.764 million. According to reports, 38 dams alone in Qila Abdullah district were damaged, besides over a dozen in Quetta, eleven in Khuzdar, nine in Hub, Dera Bugti, and Bela, seven in Kachhi, five each in Chagai Nushki, Harnai, Zhob, and Musa Khel, twelve in Duki, Surab, Kharan Washuk Mastung, Kech, Kalat, Surab and Kohlu districts. “We need to strictly implement globally recognized standards in the construction of dams in Balochistan,” observed Dr. Deen Muhammad Kakar, a geological expert. “Geophysical, geological, and feasibility surveys are three layer prerequisites we need to practice in constructing a quality dam.” “If we do not fully care for land’s lithology and efficacy of the planned dam, we will waste our money,” he said and mentioned the failure of 25 dams constructed in the Chaman district that he claimed were built in the seismic zone. “This situation demands proper designs, use of standard materials, maintain quality control through regular health checks to serve the real purpose of providing water to people,” he added. The experts also believe that contractors’ reputation and competence must be fully taken care of while awarding the contract because the contracts awarded to incompetent builders cost billions to the national kitty. “When we award contracts to less qualified consultants, how could we be sure about design and construction quality,” stated Dr Deen Muhammad. This is a common apathy in our system, which sometimes results in the contracts for specific projects being awarded either under political influence or based on personal relations. Therefore, this tendency must be shunned to save billions of rupees fleeced from our kitty. Although the challenge is enormous, the concerned government departments are confident they can cope with this situation through multiple steps recently initiated. “The government, in collaboration with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Air Aviation and Planning and Development Department, is working on the construction of Automatic Weather Stations,” said Abdul Razaq Khilji, Director General Water Resources Planning, Development and Monitoring Directorate of Irrigation Department. “This project would help us compile the rainfall data and construct dams considering the expected rainfall.” He agreed that construction standards must be updated to international standards. He stated, “A three-pronged approach including geological specialists could guarantee the dams’ utmost success.” “Dams built without careful planning and necessary protocols prove to be potential targets of harsh weather like we witnessed in 2022,” Khilji said. “Unfortunately, we could not preserve thousands of cubic feet of water after record-breaking rains in 2022.” As the Irrigation Department is mandated to meet the water needs of people besides monitoring and improving the depleting water table in 18 river basins across Balochistan, it is confident to come up with the masses’ aspirations. “The present government is striving hard to achieve those goals, and there will be a considerable impact on the livelihood of people living in this province,” commented Secretary Irrigation Hafiz Majid. Since Balochistan still needs a modern system to predict rainfall and rainwater harvesting, the dams are typically built based on the last decade’s rainfall data. Therefore, it is direly needed to establish the state of a state-of-the-art land research center, an early weather warning system for rain and flood prediction, and ensure quality construction through a judicious contract awarding mechanism.