Middle and Southern Pakistan has always been hot areas in summers. The record of highest temperature on earth is also held by the city of Jacobabad (Jacob-abad) in the province of Sindh. But other area of Pakistan like southern Punjab also face this acute heat wave in summers every year. When the British colonized the sub-continent, they used to send their "non-conforming" bureaucrats in this area as a sort of punishment. So one Mr Jacob was also sent here as Deputy Commissioner and hence the name Jacob-abad.
Now coming to the problem. The rains in most of Pakistan are seasonal starting generally in end May till September. Almost 80% of the annual rainfall happens during this period. The major hydropower dams that also act as storage, fill their reservoirs during this period. As most of the water is used for agriculture, hence for the winter crops water is released and during March-April and part of May, the reservoirs are almost depleted and along with it the dip in hydropower generation. With the advent of summers, the demand of electricity also rises due to use of air conditioners. Though Pakistan has both fuel based thermal plants and nuclear plants, these do not fill the gap between the demand and supply of electricity. Efforts are underway to solve this problem. The climate change is also having an effect as the pattern of rains is changing as is the shift in the pattern of seasons, with the increase in maximum temperatures.
As a developing country, Pakistan is trying to meet these challenges. At present three mega dam projects are under construction including a 272 m high RCC dam (Diamer Basha) on the Indus River with an installed capacity of 4500 MW and reservoir capacity 8 BCM, Mohmad Dam ( 242 m high CFRD) on Swat river with installed capacity of 800 MW and Dasu dam (RCC) on Indus river with an installed capacity of 4320 MW, in addition to scores of others. In addition the government has started and completed the world renowned "Billion Tree" project in which the trees were planted to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Tahir M. Hayat, Ph.D., P.E, MASCE
Lahore, Pakistan
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Tahir Hayat Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE
Chief Executive
Nespak
Lahore
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-17-2022 04:12 PM
From: Mitchell Winkler
Subject: Rearranging the deck chairs while the ship sinks
The article in today's Source Water crisis, power cuts worsen misery in Pakistan's hottest city Jacobabad in arid Sindh province is in the grip of an intense heatwave – peaking at 51 degrees Celsius at the weekend caught my attention. This situation and associated misery, suffering and undoubtedly fatalities certainly gives one pause. Furthermore, it makes some of the issues de jour pale in comparison. It feels like we are rearranging the deck chairs while the ship sinks. I'm not sure what specific actions CEs can take. At a minimum, I think developing literacy in global events and having a world view is essential to be an engineer in the 21st century. What do others think?
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Mitch Winkler P.E., M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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