Kalabagh Dam for financing assistance, but due to strained relations with Afghanistan (a Soviet ally), this request was denied. The government then approached the World Bank, which agreed to finance the project. At this point in Pakistan's history, previous dam projects such as Mangla (under Ayub Khan) and Tarbela (under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) never faced any opposition. Even Kalabagh was approved by the Central Development Working Party, without dissent. The issue of Kalabagh started to become politicized after the execution of the former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a highly popular leader from the downstream province of Sindh. Adding to the controversy,
Mangla Dam was constructed between 1961 and 1965 across the Jhelum River, about south-east of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad in Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir. The Mangla Dam components include a reservoir, main embankment, intake embankment, main spillway, emergency spillway, intake structures, 5 tunnels and a power station. Besides the main dam, a dyke called Sukian – 17,000 feet in length and a small dam called Jari Dam to block the Jari Nala – about 11 miles beyond the new Mirpur town had to be constructed. There was a total of 120 x 10 cubic yards (cu yds) of excavation for the