I would like to draw your kind attention to a simmering project of vital need for Pakistan which only you could undertake being in a unique position. Like they say time and tide wait for no one, there is a moment in men’s life, which can lift them beyond themselves if harnessed in time. You, Mr President, hold the key to the building of Kalabagh dam due to the old saying about your late spouse Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who was called “Soubon ki Zanjeer”. Your party PPP holds sway in all the provinces and is well qualified for cobbling a consensus on the dam, which is one of the best sites in the world and can ensure share of all the provinces as per Water Accord of 1991.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at present has only five per cent irrigated area of Pakistan and Sindh has only 15 per cent of area while the share of KP is 14 per cent and of Sindh 37 per cent in any future storage ie equal to Punjab, while KP can get its share of water only from Kalabagh dam and not from any other dam. Water beyond Kotri can only be assured throughout the year if it is stored in a mega dam upstream. Water at Basha dam is 45 MAF while at Kalabagh site it is 90 MAF due to confluence of Kabul and Soan rivers and past Tarbela rain water.
Mr President, providence has placed you at such a juncture of history that you can make Pakistan strong. The choice is yours, Mr President, to rise to the occasion by dint of your special place and qualities to steer the nation towards prosperity, away from doom of famine and hunger by not only building Bhasha dam but also Kalabagh in tandem as latter could be commissioned in half the time to be taken by the former which is trapped by numerous road blocks as you well know.
DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
