The dam site at Khjori was first envisaged by four British officers of the Royal Corps of Engineers in 1898 and surveys were carried out. The Government of Pakistan approved the construction of the dam in August 1963 and preparatory work was commenced. However, it was stopped due to the outbreak of the 1965 Indo-Pak War and by subsequent budgetary constraints. However, in 2001, the local Provincial Minister Aminullah Gandapur brought the delay in the construction of the dam to the notice of the then President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, who ordered its construction. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 14 August 2001.
Finances and construction
In 2002, Pakistan's Water and Power Development Authority hired a Chinese joint venture, CWHEC-HPE, to lead construction at a cost of about Rs. 4.388 billion. The venture joined China National Water Resources & Hydropower Engineering Corporation and Harbin Power Engineering Company. Work halted in October 2004 when two Chinese engineers were kidnapped by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants. One was later rescued but the other killed in the attempt. Work resumed in 2007, after Pakistan put its army's construction branch, the Frontier Works Organisation, in charge. It hired as sub-contractors China's state-owned Sinohydro Corporation to complete the dam, and Turkey's Tekser to finish irrigation works. The total cost of the resumed project was stated to be around Rs. 13 billion. In July 2010, the United States Agency for International Development announced it would provide funding for the dam. Further delay to the project was caused by the 2010 Pakistan floods. In October 2010, the construction work on the dam was reported to be 92 percent complete. It was also stated to start operating from April 2011. In January 2011, USAID signed an agreement with WAPDA to provide $40 million to help complete the under-construction Gomal Zam Dam & powerhouse. The first tranche of $20 million was released to WAPDA in February 2011. Another $20 million were provided to complete the main dam and the powerhouse. Construction of the Dam was completed in April 2011 and filling of the reservoir was started in the same month. Eight more dam workers were kidnapped by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants on 15 August 2012. Seven of the eight workers were released on 14 September 2013 after the Pakistani government paid a heavy ransom of Rs. 25 million to the ‘commander Latif’ group of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The fate of the eighth kidnapped employee is unknown. Another $40 million are also being provided by the USAID for completion of the irrigation and flood protection component of the project. In January 2013, the irrigation and flood protection component was stated to be "almost near completion". The powerhouse was completed in March 2013 and the electricity production started in August 2013. The Gomal Zam Dam was officially inaugurated on 12 September 2013.
Waran Canal System
On 12 September 2012, WAPDA and USAID signed an agreement for the construction of Waran Canal System in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Under the agreement, USAID will provide $12 million funding for construction of the 164 km long Waran Canal system to bring 28,000 acres barren land under permanent irrigation. In January 2013, WAPDA started the construction of Waran Canal system as an integral component of Gomal Zam Dam project. On completion, the canal will irrigate 28,000 acres land in the district which would increase crop sowing in the area from 26 percent to 87 percent and harvesting intensity from 9 percent to 80 percent. The Waran Canal, in addition to Gomal Zam Dam's main canal, will bring a total of 191,000 acres land under permanent irrigation in Dera Ismail Khan & Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is very unfortunate that till date the irrigation channel has not yet started working. Due to the high level of negligence on the part of concern authorities the canal is yet to start. Since 2012 till 2019 it's almost 7 years that the canal is delayed on various reasons. The land that is to be irrigated by War an canal is fertile enough not to cater only the need of food of the local area rather will contribute to the national exchequer. District tank is one of the most backward districts of KP and even the people have an acute problem of clean drinking water, and the operationalization of the waran canal indirectly contribute to the need of safe drinking water by rising the under ground water table. All concerns and especially the minister for water and power and the PM are requested to give special attention to waran canal and ensure its earlier operation.
