Tarbela Dam

Tarbela Dam (Pashto: د توربېلې بند, Hindko: تربیلا بند) is an earth-filled dam on the Indus River in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is mainly located in Swabi Tehsil. The dam lies in the vicinity of the town of Topi, 105 km (65 mi) northwest of Islamabad and 125 km (80 mi) east of Peshawar. It is the largest earth-filled dam in the world. The dam is 143 metres (470 ft) high above the riverbed, and its reservoir, Tarbela Lake, has a surface area of approximately 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi).

The Tarbela Dam is located where the Indus River emerges from the foothills of the Himalayas and enters the Pothohar Plateau. The dam has a reservoir that stores water for irrigation, flood control, and hydroelectric power generation, capturing monsoon flows and releasing water during the low-flow winter period. The average annual flow available is 101 billion cubic meters (3221 m/sec). It has a storage capacity of 11.9 billion cubic meters. The dam was completed in 1976. The installed capacity of the 4,888 MW Tarbela hydroelectric power stations will increase to 6,418 MW after completion of the planned fifth extension financed by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the World Bank. Then, it will be the 12th largest hydroelectric dam in the world, for electricity production capacity.