May 2, 2012
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 the 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, an unlined irrigation channel 7.2 Km long up to Malakand Pass, and excavation of a 17.5 Ft dia, 3.4 Km long tunnel underneath 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 the 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).
A British-era rest house is still present at Jabban Hydropower.
