Development work on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dasu Dam project has been officially resumed after more than six months.
The news was reported by China’s Global Times, and the Spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, confirmed at a regular press briefing that “the Dasu hydropower project has resumed”.
The confirmation comes a few days after the Government of Pakistan announced to compensate the victims of a terror attack on the site that killed ten Chinese nationals last July.
Responding to a query, the diplomat dismissed media claims that the Chinese contractor had left the Dasu dam construction site. He said that he is unaware of any additional conditions presented by the contractor for the resumption of work on the dam site. “I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned. As far as I know, the Dasu hydropower project has resumed,” he said.
Zhao remarked that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is progressing despite the pandemic’s headwind. He refuted all the CPEC-related struggles and added that the assertion that no program has been approved under the bilateral framework in the last three and a half years is “pure disinformation”.
He also mentioned the ongoing talks about a localized railway project in Pakistan and added that there is a lot of money involved and that the project is now under discussion among the concerned stakeholders.
The 4,320MW Dasu Hydropower Project is being developed by the China Gezhouba Group Co., Ltd. It is one of the most important power generation projects in the country that will help to generate clean electricity, ushering in a new era of socio-economic potential and development in remote areas.
Once commissioned in 2026, the Dasu hydropower plant will power around four million households in Pakistan.
