by Li Hao, Wang Huan and Raheela Nazir
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Even in November, mountains in Karot area of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province are still lush and green, with the Jhelum River snaking through the valleys.
Here the Karot hydropower station is being constructed as the fourth of the five cascade hydropower stations planned for the river. So far, around 95 percent of the project is completed.
The 1.74 billion U.S. dollar project is invested by the China Three Gorges Corporation and comes under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which is a flagship project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
On Saturday, the 720-megawatt hydropower station successfully closed the gates of the diversion tunnels, starting reservoir impoundment -- a critical step before the units start to generate electricity.
Like her almost 3,000 Pakistani and Chinese fellow workers on-site, Maryam Saleem Malik, an environmental engineer working at the project since 2016, was very excited and happy as the hydropower station achieved the milestone. Meanwhile, it was also her job to make sure the impoundment will not affect the safety of the fish living in the lower reach of the river.
The reservoir impoundment will lead to a decrease of the water level in around four-kilometer-long section of the river, but this problem will be automatically solved in about 28 hours after the water level in the reservoir is high enough to enable the water to pass through the spillway, Malik, who has a master degree in environmental policy and management, told Xinhua.
To protect the aquatic life here during this time frame, the project organized almost 100 people to search for fish that might be stranded in the puddles or between stones in the lower reach of the river after the beginning of the impoundment, she said.
The Karot project also hired a local company to monitor the fish species in the river in case there is a change after the impoundment, so as to take measures accordingly, Zhang Xiangjun, chief safety officer and manager of the Environment, Social and Safety Department of the Karot Power Company (Private) Limited which is responsible for executing the project.
"Our project is also cooperating with the local government to implement a biodiversity management plan with a total investment of 3 million U.S. dollars to conduct campaigns in nearby villages to raise the awareness of protecting flora and fauna and provide the government with patrolling vehicles and monitoring equipment," Zhang told Xinhua.
Besides biodiversity, the project has also taken strict measures to monitor and protect the quality of the river water and air since its groundbreaking in 2015, Malik said.
"For all the waste water from the construction site, from the residential camps and offices, the first thing we do is treatment and then discharge. So all the water we do the testing and it conforms to the national quality standards," Malik said.
"And to control the dust, we regularly do the water sprinkling on all the construction sites, on the public roads, on the project access roads, so our air quality also qualifies," she said.
Construction of the project has been going on along with planting trees and grass to avoid water and soil losses at the same time, with vegetation restored as soon as temporary installations are demolished, Zhang said.
"The environmental protection standards we adopt are higher than the local government requirements, and we have never got any complaint regarding the environment from the local people and authorities," he added.
For each year, the Karot hydropower station is planned to generate some 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity, reducing 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
"The Karot project can make a huge contribution to resolving the energy shortage in our country, which will help a lot to bolster our industries." said Malik.
"We are moving towards the renewable energy, the green energy, so I think the water power plants are a big contribution to that. Its power generation is with very low cost and very less impact on the environment. Pakistan has been a beneficiary of the idea of green BRI," Malik noted.
Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, chief executive officer of the Asian Institute of Eco-civilization Research and Development, told Xinhua that by taking a number of stringent measures, China is taking lead in promoting global green development to tackle climate change and protect the planet.
Under the CPEC, China has been assisting Pakistan to produce clean energy through projects like Karot and Suki Kinari hydropower stations for promoting green economy and development. Enditem
