Memories of Rehabilitation of British-Era Jabban Hydropower Project in Malakand KPK

2012 to 2014

Habib Rafiq (Pvt.) Limited is one of the biggest construction companies in Pakistan. I joined them in 2012, and one of my assignments as a civil engineer was Jabban Hydropower Construction. 

To meet the requirements of irrigation in Malakand valley and districts of Mardan and Swabi, an irrigation scheme was planned by the British Government in 1903. The plan consists of headwork at Amandara near Batkhela on River upper Swat, unlined irrigation channel 7.2 Km long up to Malakand Pass, and excavation of 17.5 Ft dia, 3.4 Km long tunnel underneath of Malakand Pass. A network of irrigation canals including Abazi and Machai branches and their distributaries were also part of the project. The project started in 1907 and was completed in 1914.

In 1930, a hydropower project was planned by the British Government, at Jabban, 10 Km from Dargai town Malakand Agency. For this purpose, a free power tunnel called Barkat tunnel was excavated on the right side of the outlet regulator of the Benton tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 0.97 Km and its diameter is about 14 feet. The discharge capacity of Barkit tunnel is 1200 cusecs. Jabban hydropower projects were started in 1934 and completed in 1937.

The 70-year-old powerhouse was badly damaged due to a fire incident on 12-11-2006. The extent of damage was such that it was not possible to restore the operation of the existing units. Moreover, the plant equipment had already outlived its life. The situation necessitated carrying out Rehabilitation of Jabban Hydroelectric Power Station on a "Fast Track Basis" by the installation of new machines of higher efficiency at the same site.

The Rehabilitation of the hydropower station was completed in 2013 with a total cost of Rs3.8 billion by the contractor HRL-CCPG JV (Habib Rafique Ltd. (Pakistan) & Central China Power Group China).

Since its commissioning in 1937 with an initial installed capacity of 9.6 MW (3 units of 3.2 MW each).

Jabban Hydropower after completion 2014

Turbine Building

Channel to feed Forebays

3.4 Km long tunnel canal underneath of Malakand Pass

To reach the forebay a rail line was installed in British times. 

From the initial 9 Megawatta capacity after rehabilitation, the new Generation capacity we got is 23 MW. We have to increase the Pipe opening at Forebay which feeds the turbine

Standing at Forebay Deck

View from Forebay, opening for turbine foundation is in process

3.4 Km long tunnel canal underneath of Malakand Pass

World most Dangerous hanging Rope Bridge HUSSANI PASSU

 August 1, 2014

Known as the most dangerous bridge in the world, the Hussaini Hanging Bridge is only one of many precarious rope bridges in Northern of pakistan

In a world of commercial space-flight and super sonic jet flight it can be easy to forget just how hard it can be to traverse certain parts of this planet.

But those living in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Northern Pakistan were cut off from the rest of Pakistan until 1978 due to the mountainous terrain and lack of roads. You could take a small airplane, but that was reserved for only the richest citizens.

For everyone else, the only way to travel was by walking across mountain passes to Rawalpindi. In 1978, the Karakoram Highway was completed and the region was connected, but inter-region travel remains as difficult as it was 100 years ago.

Regular aspects of travel through this region include the rickety cable and plank bridges which cross Northern Pakistan's mountain streams and rivers. Among these is the Hussaini Hanging Bridge, crossing Borit Lake in the Upper Hunza. This rope bridge is both long and poorly maintained. Many planks are missing, and strong winds shake the bridge as you cross it. It does little to ease nerves that a previous, older, broken bridge hangs in tatters next to the "new" one.

Despite its dangerous looks, however, the Hussaini is is a relatively safe bridge and has become something of a tourist draw, with hikers testing their nerves as they carefully work their way across

Old Silk route of Marco Palo

August 2, 2014

Old Silk route.......Locally known as 'Kinu-Kitto the section of visible road high up on the cliff side across the river evolved  from being a foot path to a pony trek and was later widened (only one jeep width) into a jeep road in 1958-1960. However the construction of  KKH's in 70, the old Silk route fell in to disuse.... Kinu kutto has also great view of rakaposhi...... Marco polo and Silk route....A well-known traveler and explorer, Marco Polo headed for China along the Silk Road in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). The Travels of Marco Polo, dictated by him, described Chinese politics, economy, and culture in detail, which greatly aroused the desire of westerner to go to China and had a great effect on the European navigation

District Vehari Church

 April 5, 2018

Tomb of Bahawal Haleem Uch Sharif

 February 9, 2014

The tomb of Bahaa-Ul-Haleem is the earliest of three domed mausoleums found on a high mound in the town of Uch, a center of Sufism under the Delhi sultanate. Little is known about him, except that he was the teacher of the saint Hazrat Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahan Gasht, who built the mausoleum. It is believed that this tomb was constructed some 650 years back. The tomb shows the influence of the funerary style that originated around Multan, exemplified by the Tomb of Bahauddin Zakaria. 

The proposed property consists of 5 monuments at the South-West corner of Uch Sharif- representing the town’s most exceptional architecture. The oldest is the fourteenth century AD tomb and mosque of the Central Asian Sufi Jalaluddin Bukhari. The brick-built tomb measures 18 meters by 24 meters and its carved wooden pillars support a flat roof it is decorated with glazed tiles in floral and geometric designs. The ceiling is painted with floral designs in lacquer and its floor is covered with the graves of the saint and his relatives an interior partition provides purdah for those of his womenfolk. Its mosque consists of a hall, measuring 20 meters by 11 meters, with 18 wooden pillars supporting a flat roof. It was built of cut and dressed bricks and further decorated, internally and externally, with enameled tiles in floral and geometric designs. These structures were joined by a series of domed tombs; the first is said to have been built for Baha’ al-Halim by his pupil, the Suharwardiya Sufi saint Jahaniyan Jahangasht (1307-1383 AD), the second for the latter’s great grant daughter, Bibi Jalwindi, in c.1494 and the third for the latter’s architect. They all have three tiers, an octagonal base supporting a zone of transition surmounted by a dome, and are richly decorated with carved timber, cut and molded brick, and blue and white faience mosaic tiles. The basement walls taper and are supported by 8 engaged tapering corner towers. The eroded nature of the three clearly allows their profile, construction and decorated interiors to be seen.

My Visit to Baltit Fort in 2014

August 1, 2014

Baltit Fort is a fort in the Hunza valley, near the town of Karimabad, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. Founded in the 8th century CE, it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list since 2004. The Mirs of Hunza abandoned the fort in 1945 and moved to a new palace down the hill.