It appears that the Federal Ministry for Water and Power, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad has waged a war against Sindh and it has obviously taken such enthusiasm from Wapda – the white elephant as labelled by two Prime Ministers namely Yousaf Raza Gilani and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The ministry has recently manoeuvred to appoint a highly controversial 85-year old Shamsul Mulk (ex-chairman, Wapda) as Advisor on Water despite all his sympathies being openly with Punjab at the cost of the other three provinces including his native province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This was deliberately done by the ministry despite many impartial water experts like Fatehullah Gandapur are also available.
Needless to mention here that Mr Mulk’s financial benefits are associated with Punjab as he is known as a dam contractor; therefore, he is supporting the controversial Kalabagh dam for obvious reasons.
Meanwhile, an English daily has quoted sources in the Ministry of Water & Power by claiming that Sindh is opposing the granting of water to AJK from their “own” rivers. Instead of giving facts, the word “own” rivers with reference of Sindh was mentioned to create hatred against Sindh. I appeal to the President, Prime Minister and Minister for Water and Power to take note of objectionable activities of bureaucrats.
MOHAMMAD KHAN SIAL
Karachi
(II)
Sindh treats the Indus as Sindh’s river and objects to Punjab taking any water from it. This was true when there were five rivers flowing through Punjab. With the loss of three rivers to India now the whole county has to subsist on the three remaining rivers of which only the Indus has surplus flows.
Tarbela dam on the Indus increased canal supplies by 25 percent by storing and saving surplus flood waters. Obviously all the provinces have a share in this increase.
Sindh should not object to South Punjab taking its due share through the CJ and TP link canals. North Punjab is already being denied its share which it can take only through the left bank canal at Kalabagh dam.
The irony of it is that North Punjab will not get any water from any dam on the Indus, be it Tarbela, Bhasha, Akhori, Skardu or Katzara dam. The water from all these dams will bypass north Punjab and 8 lakh acres in D I Khan and flow down to Sindh and Balochistan, except for what South Punjab is allowed to take.
Without water from the Indus, with Mangla dam silting up progressively, two thirds of North Punjab will revert from irrigated to barani with a 50 percent loss in national food production.
The pre-partition Punjab was the bread basket of the whole of India, the smaller East Punjab still is but not the bigger West Punjab.
KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore