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 MAF in 2005 due to the sedimentation & was likely to reduce further. To counteract this phenomenon, the "Mangla Dam Raising Project" was started in 2004 and the main dam, spillway and its allied works were completed in 2009 at a cost of Rs. 101.384 billion. This project effectively raised the dam height by 30 feet to 482 feet (147 m), thereby raising the maximum water conservation level from 1202 feet to 1242 feet. This increased the dam's storage capacity by an additional 2.88 MAF from 4.51 MAF to 7.39 MAF. Besides, it is expected that after raising the height