A Wapda hand-out tells us that snowfall has started two and a half months late this year, in January instead of in November. Compared to last year, Tarbela and Mangla dams are getting 5000 and 7000 cusecs less water respectively because of the slower melting of the glaciers.
These are the vagaries of climate change which we have to guard against by increasing our storage capacity, not with piddling little reservoir, but with mega reservoirs. Our total dependence being on snowfall and glaciers, what will we do after 30 years when we don’t have the glaciers? We won’t even have that if we keep burning oil and gas and very soon coal also. Alternate sources of energy can help but it is only hydel which can give us clean energy in the mega quantities required to offset burning of fossil fuels.
KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore