It is only common sense that if dead storage is not replaced with live storage, we will end up with no storage. There will be more water in the rivers for three months and very little for the remaining nine months, alternate periods of floods and drought. There will be no transfer from the wet to the dry period. Uniform supplies over the twelve months will not be possible for agriculture and community services, leading to a reduction in the per capita per annum availability which would further lead to water scarcity and water stress.
There will be no storage for the Rabi season. Hydel power will be available only for three months. There will be no reserves for any contingency, natural or man made. There will be no regulated flow below Kotri for year round protection of the Indus delta. Bhasha dam alone will be no substitute for Mangla and Tarbela dams. Pakistan could become a desert. But timely actions could change this bleak situation.
KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore