Gomal Zam Dam () is a multi-purpose gravity dam in South Waziristan Tribal District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The dam impounds the Gomal River, a tributary of the Indus River, at Khjori Kach, where the Gomal River passes through a narrow ravine. The purpose of the dam is irrigation, flood control, and hydroelectric power generation. Construction of the dam began in August 2001 and was completed in April 2011. The powerhouse was completed in March 2013 and electricity production started in August 2013. The dam was officially inaugurated on 12 September 2013 by Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, along with US Ambassador Richard G. Olson and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shaukatullah Khan. Features Gomal Dam is a roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dam with a height of 437 feet (133 m). It has a gross storage capacity of and the 60.5 km long main canal can irrigate about of barren land in Tank district and Tehsil Kulachi of Dera Ismail Khan. It produces 17.4 MW of electricity. Background The dam site at Khjori was first envisaged by four British officers of the Royal Corps of Engineers in 1898 and surveys were carried out. The Government of Pakistan approved the construction of the dam in August 1963 and preparatory work was commenced. However, it was stopped due to the outbreak of the 1965 Indo-Pak War and by subsequent budgetary constraints. However, in 2001, the local Provincial Minister Aminullah Gandapur brought notice of the delay in the construction of the dam to the then President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, who ordered its construction. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 14 August 2001. Finances and construction In 2002, Pakistan's Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) hired a Chinese joint venture, CWHEC-HPE, to lead construction at a cost of about Rs. 4.388 billion. The venture joined China National Water Resources & Hydropower Engineering Corporation and Harbin Power Engineering Company. Work halted in October 2004 when two Chinese engineers were kidnapped by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants. One was later rescued but the other was killed in the attempt. Work resumed in 2007 after Pakistan put its army's construction branch, the Frontier Works Organisation, in charge. It hired as sub-contractors China's state-owned Sinohydro Corporation to complete the dam, and Turkey's Tekser to finish irrigation works. The total cost of the resumed project was stated to be around Rs. 13 billion. In July 2010, the United