BASHA

DAM

KEY FACTS
Dam Type:
Location:
Height:
Length of crest:
Reservoir Area:
Catchment Area:
Gross Head:
Average Flow:
Design Flood Discharge:
Total Storage Capacity:
Live Storage Capacity:
Total Volume of Dam:
Total Volume of Fill:
Installed Capacity for Hydropower:
Energy Generated:
Spillway Type:
Spillway Gates:

Zoned earth-rockfill with central core

and concrete cut-off to bedrock
Chilas on the River Indus
200 metres (660 ft.) (above river bed)
3,018 feet
27,700 acres
152,100 km2
145 m (476 feet)
1,970 m3/sec (69,600 ft3/sec)
19,300 m3/sec (682,000 cusecs)
9.0 km3 (7.3 MAF)
7.0 km3 (5.7 MAF)
58 million yards3
44 million m3
3,360 MW from 12 units
14.1 GWh
Overflow, with concrete lined chute,
flip bucket and plunge pool
6 16.6 x 20 metres (54.5 x 65.6 ft)

Please Insert Sketch of in the file called

Location Map sent separately in MS Word
format. It is a scanned figure.

1.0

LOCATION OF BASHA DAM

The Basha Dam project site has been identified about 314 km upstream of
Tarbela dam on the River Indus and about 165 km south of Gilgit City. The
development of a high dam at Basha will create significant storage capacity in
the Indus valley between Rakhiot bridge and Dasu-Sazin gorge. The selected
axis is the first suitable site for the construction of such a dam downstream of
the relatively wide and flat reach of the river dominated by the town of Chilas.
The dam site is located on a pronounced bend of the Indus River, in a section
with steep rock slopes covered locally with a thin veneer of talus and acree. At
the dam axis, the river is some 160 metres wide. The maximum depth of the
river bed alluvium is 55 metres near the right bank. The bedrock has high
strength, moderately jointed norite (a form of gabbro) and is suitable as
foundation and embankment material. The material constituting the riverbed is
also compact and has low compressibility. However, its location requires the
laying of long distance transmission lines to connect the hydel power generated
to the national grid.
2.0

THE BASHA DAM PROJECT

The project will comprise of a 660 feet high zoned earth-rockfill dam, a chute
spillway with a flip bucket and plunge pool, one low-level and three mid-level

outlets, intakes, water conduits on the right side and an underground

powerhouse with an installed capacity of 3,360 MW. The reservoir created
behind the dam would have a gross capacity of 7.3 MAF and a live storage of
5.7 MAF. The average generation of hydropower by the project is expected to
be 14.1 GWh.
The dam is planned in two stages:
Stage I
Additional comprehensive technical, financial, social and environmental
investigations and studies were proposed to be carried out to fully assess the
feasibility. This would also facilitate the selection of an appropriate project
layout to develop the hydroelectric potential of the Indus River at Basha. The
activities of this stage are expected to be completed in 54 months.
Stage II
The detailed engineering design of the selected project layout will be prepared
to the level required for tendering purpose in this stage. Tender documents of
all major contracts will also be completed. This stage will take another 42
months, with the possibility of overlap of a period of 12 months.
3.0

APPRECIATION OF THE BASHA DAMSITE

Ample quantities of suitable material for the production of the impervious fill
are available within reasonable distance of the site. The rockfill, however, will
come from necessary excavations from nearby quarries. The site topography
provides significant confinement of the embankment on both the upstream and
downstream toe of the dam. The dam will be inherently stable and is designed
to resist severe seismic loadings expected in the region. The spillway will be
located on the right bank and will pass maximum floods from glaciers. A flood
caused by a landslide of magnitude equal to that of 1841 could be passed by
making use of a freeboard.
The four tunnels in the right abutment will be used for river diversion during
the construction period and converted to intermediate and low-level outlets to
meet irrigation needs in the downstream area when the reservoir level is below
the spillway crest.
The good bedrock favours an underground powerhouse, which will be located in
the left abutment. The transmission facilities will deliver power generated at
Basha to areas of Pakistan showing generation deficit.
It is estimated that the life of Basha reservoir will be limited by sedimentation
to about 80 years. In the early years of Bashas operations, the sediment inflow
to Tarbela will be reduced to 40% of the present inflow. As a result, the life of
Basha and Kalabagh (if executed) will be significantly prolonged. The positive
impact on the two reservoirs will be felt for over a century.
4.0

RESISTANCE FROM BY LOCAL PEOPLE

There has been resistance from the local people from the onset. The main
demands of the local people are:

Settlement of boundary dispute

Share of royalty accrued from the revenue of the project

Many other demands including compensation and employment of local

people

One major concern of the Northern Areas populace is the location of the
powerhouse on the left side inside NWFP. The Constitution of Pakistan has
given royalty rights to the province where the power station is located and not
the reservoir. This issue caused a major portion of the social problems.
In efforts to resolve the disputes, the Government of Pakistan held 4 high level
meetings during 1990-92 in the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas
(KANA) at Islamabad. KANA constituted a Standing Committee comprising of the
NWFP Government and local civil administration functionaries concerned with
the issue on September 12, 1995. The Standing Committee held two meetings
in 1995. WAPDA is also actively pursuing the problem in order to the remove
the bottlenecks.
5.0

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

Large hydroelectric projects have a number of environmental impacts. These

cause major problems that have to be encountered at the time of project
conception. Basha dam was no different in this regard. In fact, given its
location at a high elevation and the tough terrain, the nature of impacts
becomes even more grave:
1.

Resettlement of the local people is an important aspect, which

becomes more serious where individual landholdings are comparatively
small and the cultivable area is scarce due to mountainous terrain.

2.

Project construction is bound to affect the natural environment - both

flora and fauna - which is quite dense. Here the construction activities
of the dam, development of roads, quarrying, etc have to be taken into
account. 120 km of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) is also expected to
be submerged. In order to carry heavy equipment to the dam site
through KKH would require improvement in its present condition.

3.

Soil erosion may deteriorate a vast area of land and also induce
instability in downstream irrigation channels due to fluctuations based
on the reservoir level.

4.

Altered stream flow and nutrient content including sediments will

cause changes in the habitat.

5.

Other downstream effects are likely to impact water supply, fisheries,

navigation, aesthetics and recreation.

6.

Dams maintain thermally stratified reservoirs which tend to alter

thermal regimes, reduce dissolved oxygen content, reduce turbidity
and elevate the level of manganese, iron, ammonia-nitrogen and
hydrogen sulphide. There is also tendency for loss of phytoplanktons,
which are the staple diet of a number of fishes and other aquatic life.

7.

Basha dam will be located in a seismically sensitive area. There are

certain researches that indicate that the impoundment of water in the
vicinity of faulted area poses a potential impact towards increasing the
earth tremors.

6.0

THE CURRENT STATUS

According to the plan, the following activities were to be conducted in 1999

2000 period: surveys/ studies regarding socio-economic status, consolidation of
hydraulic and sedimentation data by ISRIP and consolidation survey by fixing
bench marks and other reference points. Due to difficulties in accessing the
site, resistance from locals and some other problems, the planned activities
could not be carried out.
The Panel of Experts recommended, in the light of the PC-II performa, that the
planning of the project be in two stages costing Rs. 1,636.28 million including
the foreign exchange component (1988 prices). The financing of 399.2 million
in local currency and US$ 25 million in foreign currency was approved in the
year 2000. The budget needs to be revised for the current timeframe. The total
expenditure incurred up to June 2000 on the Basha dam project was Rs. 83.552
million.
A feasibility study conducted in the 1980s has now been ranked as a prefeasibility study. A 3-year feasibility study is in the final stages of award. Due
to non-availability of foreign exchange and local financing, an amount of Rs.
900 million has been allocated for the feasibility of Basha dam of which Rs 300
million will be spent in the year 2001-02 with no foreign exchange component.
Other than this amount, the government has also allocated Rs 360 billion for
the construction of the dam from the year 2006 onwards.
REFERENCES
1.

Montreal Engineering Company, Basha Storage and Power Project

Feasibilty Study, Hydroelectric Ranking and Feasibility Studies for
Pakistan Phase B, October 1984.

2.

Montreal Engineering Company, Inventory and Ranking Study,

Hydroelectric Ranking and Feasibility Studies for Pakistan Phase A,
November 1984.

3.

Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority, Annual Report 19992000, 2001.

4.

Dr. Bashir A Chandio & Ms Nuzhat Yasmin, Proceedings of the National

Workshop on Water Resources Achievements and Issues in 20th Century
and Challenges for the Next Millennium, Pakistan Council of Research
in Water Resources, June 1999.

5.

Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering, Lahore,

Proceedings Water for the 21st Century: Demand, Supply,
Development and Socio- Environmental Issues, June 1997.

6.

Planning Commission, Govt of Pakistan (Sep 2001), Ten Year

Perspective Development Plan 2001-11& Three Year Development
Programme 2001-04.