Dams are used for storing water, produce electricity, and save from floods. Most dams result in the creation of still water lakes, and there are approximately 150 dams in Pakistan, with a major chunk of them being located in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), where the River Indus and its tributaries flow from the mountains.
1- TARBELA DAM
As the largest earth-filled dam in the world, Tarbela Dam holds a prized position among the dams in Pakistan. It is located in the Haripur and Swabi districts in KPK, the dam was built to control the flow of the River Indus, resulting in the reservoir known as Tarbela Lake. Built 143 meters (470 feet) above the riverbed, the dam wall actually stretches over a span of 2743 meters (9,000 feet), producing nearly 5,000 megawatts of electricity with a future extension expanding this capacity to 6,300 megawatts.
2- MANGLA DAM
Being 147 meters (482 feet) in height and 3140 meters (10,300 feet) in length, Mangla Dam is the second-largest water reservoir in Pakistan. Located in the Mirpur District of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, with the dam becoming one of the primary sources of irrigation in the country. While the dam was only built for the purpose of water storage initially, it was later modified to generate hydropower electricity of about 1,150 megawatts. Proposed extension plans will extend this capacity to 1,500 megawatts in the future.
3- MIRANI DAM
In spite of being one of the largest dams in the country, Mirani Dam is fairly unknown to most people. The primary reason for that is its remote location, on the Dasht River in the south of Central Makran Range in Balochistan. Developed in 2002-2006, this dam is also comparatively newer to the two above and was commissioned with the aim to provide water to Gwadar and Turbat round the year.
4- WARSAK DAM
Traveling 20 km from the city of Peshawar can take you to Warsak Dam, a water reservoir built on the Kabul River. Operated by WAPDA, the first phase of the dam was built in 1960, while electricity-generating capabilities were installed in the 1980s in the second phase of construction. This brings the dam’s current capacity to 240 megawatts, with plans to extend the capacity further to generate 525 megawatts.
5- HUB DAM
