Khanpur Dam

Khanpur Dam

Khanpur Dam is a dam located on the Haro River near the town of Khanpur (NWFP), about 25 miles (40 km) from Islamabad, Pakistan. It forms Khanpur Lake, a reservoir which supplies drinking water to Islamabad and Rawalpindi and irrigation water to many of the agricultural and industrial areas surrounding the cities.

The dam was completed in 1983 after a 15 year construction period believed to have cost Rs. 1,352 million. It is 167 feet (51 m) high and stores 110,000 acre feet (140,000,000 m³) of water. [cite web|url=http://www.opf.org.pk/almanac/D/dams.htm|title=Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, Dams|accessdate=2006-10-30]

The History of Khanpur Dam

The dam was built by Field Marshall Ayub Khan whos son Gohar Ayub had a grudge with local feudal Chief of Gakhars, Sultan Raja Erij Zaman Khan and Raja Sikander Zaman. The dam was believed by many as a way for Ayub Khan to settle the political score with Ghakhars.

The forefathers of local Ghakhars Rajas were gifted much of the local land by the British during the nineteenth century. The British rewarded Gakhhars for their cooperation in defeating Sikhs but deprived local Awan and other farmers of their land. When the decision to build Khanpur Dam was made, The Rajas wanted to receive the compensation for all land thus depriving all the locals of their land-rights. The locals desperately wanted to receive compensation or new lands in the nearby New Khanpur, an alternative town for all the refugees.

The local community, lead by Abdul Bashir Khan (the father of Saeed Khan), the young Secretary of Khanpur’s WAPDA Union in the early 1970s, took on the Ghakhars and their friends in the NWFP parliament. Amid threats and intimidation, the campaign succeeded in uniting most local villagers who had nothing but their lands. Abdul Bashir and his fellow activists decided to take there campaign straight to then NWFP Governor Hayat Sherpao by camping outside the Governor House for days. Abdul Bashir and his fellow activists left Peshawar only after they had succeeded in winning the land rights for the people of Khanpur NWFP.

The locals were promised free water and electricity by WAPDA and then Provincial and Federal governments but to this day are still waiting.

Pictures of Khanpur Dam

* [http://www.pakwheels.com/forumreply_az_TopicID!54270~ForumID!29~pw.html - PakWheels.com] http://www.orkut.com/AlbumZoom.aspx?uid=14427395318334776151&http://www.orkut.com/Album.aspx?uid=14427395318334776151&aid=1pid=9&aid=1#pid=9

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Khanpur, NWFP — Khanpur is one of the 44 Union Councils, administrative subdivisions, of Haripur District in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan [http://www.nrb.gov.pk/lg election/union.asp?district=75 dn=Haripur Tehsils Unions in the District of… …   Wikipedia

  • Haripur District — Infobox Pakistan district district = Haripur District area = 1,725 km² population = 803,000 pop year = 2005 density = 466 per km² caption = Location of Haripur District (highlighted in red) within the North West Frontier Province. region = North… …   Wikipedia

  • Saeed Khan — Infobox Politician name = width = 135px height = 270px caption = small office = term start = term end = predecessor = successor = constituency = majority = office2 = term start2 = term end2 = predecessor2 = successor2 = constituency2 = majority2 …   Wikipedia

  • Haripur, Pakistan — Infobox City official name = City of Haripur nickname = motto = flag link = flag size = image shield = shield link = shield size = flag link = flag size = image shield = shield link = shield size = |thumb|200px map caption = subdivision type =… …   Wikipedia

  • Manki, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — Manki is a town and Union Council of Nowshera District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.[1] It is located at 34°1 0N 72°20 0E with an altitude of 289 metres (951 feet). Manki is also the home of one of the most powerful families in Pakistan.… …   Wikipedia

  • List of places in Islamabad — This is a list of all the Notable places in Islamabad City and its surrounding tourism attractions. This however, does not include the city of Rawalpindi.General*National Art Gallery, Islamabad *National Herbarium Islamabad *National Monument… …   Wikipedia

  • Islamabad — Infobox Settlement name = Islamabad native name = Nastaliq|اسلام آباد nickname = settlement type = Capital City total type = motto = imagesize = 250px image caption = Top:Faisal Mosque, Centre Left: Islamabad in Winter, Centre Right:Rawal Lake,… …   Wikipedia

  • Lora, NWFP — Union Councils name = Lora caption = Lora is located in Abbottabad District province = NWFP district = Abbottabad tehsil = Havelian nazim = khan Bilal Hameed Khan [http://www.abbottabad.gov.pk/Union council/UCDetailPage.asp?name=Lora Lora Union… …   Wikipedia

  • Tofkian — is one of the 44 Union Councils, administrative subdivions, of Haripur District in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan [http://www.nrb.gov.pk/lg election/union.asp?district=75 dn=Haripur Tehsils Unions in the District of Haripur] ] .… …   Wikipedia

  • Vishwamitri River — The Vishwamitri river is a seasonal river which flows east to west between the Mahi and Narmada rivers in Gujarat, India. It originates in the hills of Pavagadh.The Vishwamitri flows west through the city of Vadodara and joins with the Dhadhar… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”