The Kalabagh Dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Indus River at Kalabagh in the Mianwali District, Punjab, Pakistan, which has been intensely debated along ethnic and regional lines for over 40 years.
The Kalabagh Dam is proposed to be located on the River Indus at about 120 miles downstream of Tarbela Dam, 92 miles downstream the confluence of Kabul and Soan (Sawan) Rivers and 16 miles upstream of the existing Jinnah Barrage.
If constructed, the dam could generate 3,600 MW of electricity, but is also promoted as a potential solution to chronic flooding problems, helping to tackle the "severe water crises" in the country.
Over the decades, the understanding of the environmental impacts of mega dam projects have grown, and Pakistan Economy Watch has demanded a national debate on the KBD issue.
According to 2014 study the benefits are: (1) Annual savings of $4 billion in energy costs. (2) Saving Rs. 132 billion due to irrigation benefits and (3) Prevent flood-loss damage, such as the $45 billion loss suffered in recent floods.
Bashir A. Malik, former chief technical advisor to the United Nations and World Bank, said, "Sindh and Pakhtunkhwah would become drought areas in the years to come if Kalabagh Dam was not built."
The Kalabagh Dam would provide 6.5 million acre feet of water to cultivate seven million acres of currently barren land in addition to the 3,600 megawatts (4,800,000 hp) of electricity it would provide.
Basha Dam is no substitute for Kalabagh Dam, not because of its altitude, which is high enough, but because no irrigation canals can be taken out from it because of the hilly terrain.
The government from time to time tries to form a consensus on the issue but to no avail. Kalabagh dam is opposed by major political parties of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa such as ANP, JUI(F) and PPP.
The critics say that the mega project favoured by a single province and the secrecy surrounding the planning, designing and implementation of the project has made smaller provinces extremely suspicious.