After years of construction and an investment of about Rs15.23 billion, a major hydropower and irrigation project in Lasbela Balochistan, Winder Dam, is about to complete. The dam sits across the Winder River, about 100 kilometers from Karachi. It is designed to irrigate 10,000 acres of farmland. Moreover it will also add a relatively small amount of electricity to the local grid. According to Balochistan Administration, this the project has been a top priority in recent years as it has been a decade since its construction started.
Key Highlights
- Winder Dam nearing completion at a total cost of Rs15.23 billion
- Project will irrigate 10,000 acres and generate 0.3 megawatts of power
- Naulong Dam, Balochistan’s largest planned hydropower project, remains under construction
- WAPDA continues work on Diamer Basha, Mohmand, and Dasu, alongside Tarbela’s fifth extension
- Balochistan government has announced plans for 16 new small dams across the province
🚨BREAKING: Winder Dam in Balochistan nears completion after Rs15 billion investment. pic.twitter.com/LHRL3HbyZt
— The Daily CPEC (@TheDailyCPEC) August 14, 2026
A Long Road to Completion
Winder Dam’s history stretches back to 2011, when then-President Asif Ali Zardari performed the ground-breaking ceremony. Actual construction, though, did not begin for years. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani laid the foundation stone again in 2021, and officials set a four-year completion target from that point. The dam is an earth-core rockfill structure that will hold 36,484 acre-feet of water once full. Project officials say the stored water will also help raise groundwater levels in the surrounding Lasbela and Uthal areas, a region that has struggled with water scarcity for years.
Engineer Ahmad Farooq, the project’s deputy director, has called Winder Dam an important step for Balochistan’s agriculture sector, second only to Hub Dam in scale for the region. Once complete, treated water from the reservoir will also be supplied to nearby households for daily use, giving the project a role beyond irrigation alone.
Naulong Dam Remains Balochistan’s Largest Hydropower Project
Winder Dam is only one piece of a larger push to expand water storage and power generation across Balochistan. Naulong Dam, planned for the Mula River in Jhal Magsi district, remains the province’s biggest hydropower project on the books, with an expected cost of Rs28.5 billion and a planned capacity of 4.4 megawatts. The project has faced repeated delays since its feasibility study was completed back in 2009, though construction work was expected to begin in earnest more recently, with support from the Asian Development Bank for early project planning. Once finished, Naulong Dam is expected to irrigate roughly 47,000 acres of farmland in the district.
Balochistan is also home to Mirani Dam, a much larger facility on the Dasht River near Turbat, completed back in 2006 with a generation capacity of 117 megawatts. It remains one of the province’s key water storage sites and holds the largest flood-storage capacity of any dam in the world, according to available records.
National Push Continues Alongside Provincial Efforts
At the national level, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) briefed a Balochistan delegation last month on its broader development plans. These plans include ongoing construction at Diamer Basha Dam, Mohmand Dam, and the Dasu Hydropower Project, along with the fifth extension of Tarbela Dam. Together, WAPDA says these projects will add close to 10 million acre-feet of water storage. Along with that roughly 10,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power will be added to the national grid once these project finish.
On the provincial side, Balochistan’s government has announced plans to build 16 new small dams across the province, aiming to address the region’s chronic water shortages through smaller, faster-to-build storage sites rather than relying solely on large-scale projects like Winder and Naulong. Officials describe the approach as a mix of strategies: big dams for irrigation and power at scale, paired with smaller, localized projects meant to reach communities more quickly.
Taken together, the progress at Winder Dam fits into a wider pattern of water and energy investment across Balochistan and the country as a whole. Officials hope that it will ease the province’s long-standing water shortages. Also, its dependence on outside power sources in the years ahead will be reduced due to this project.
