The dewatering and rehabilitation of the Kariba Dam Plunge Pool has been completed, thereby paving the way for the commencement of water refilling in the next few days to maintain normal downstream flow.
The project started about seven years ago and is now 99 percent complete, with the dewatering works being decommissioned this morning.
Energy and Power Development Minister Edgar Moyo, who is the current chair of the Zambezi River Authority, and Permanent Secretaries Engineer Gloria Magombo (Zimbabwe) and Mr Peter Mumba (Zambia) officiated at the decommissioning ceremony.
Acting ZRA chief executive, Mr Temba Mhlanga said the winding up of the project, which will run concurrently with the refilling of the plunge pool, should be completed by end of September.
The Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project included reshaping the plunge pool and rehabilitating the spillway.
Reshaping the plunge pool was one of the steps taken to improve the long-term safety of the dam, which started operating in 1960.
Financiers including the European Union, World Bank, African Development Bank and Sweden attended the event.
Ambassadors to Zimbabwe and Zambia from Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Finland, among others, were also in attendance. — Herald
