CJP asked to take note of conspiracies against Thar Coal project

The Punjab Forum said on Wednesday that vested interests have targeted the Thar Coal project after burying the Kala Bagh dam (KBD) project to bleed the country dry. Pakistan can never become a stable and energy-secure country in the absence of critical projects which are being made controversial for specific purpose, it said.
The Supreme Court should immediately take notice of the situation and initiate action against the lobbies working to fulfill the agenda of foreign powers and multinational oil companies, said Punjab Forum President Baig Raj.
Speaking at a meeting regarding the energy crisis, he said the Planning Commission (PC) has sent very wrong signals by opposing the Thar Coal project. The PC should not raise objections on public sector enterprises which are wasting more resources than the nation spends on defence, he added. Raj said Dr Samar Mubarik Mand should not be punished for trying to generate electricity without the involvement of multinationals and that the nation remembers his services as member of a team that made Pakistan’s defence impregnable.
The meeting observed that some elements successfully transformed a purely technical issue of the construction of the KBD into a burning political issue which is keeping the country insecure.
Influential owners of IPPs and rental power projects have also started a campaign against efforts to produce cheap energy. The meeting welcomed MQM-Haqiqi chief Afaq Ahmed’s statement in which he vowed to unveil the names of politicians from Sindh who received bribes from India to oppose the KBD. The names of politicians from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who want Pakistan to plunge into darkness should also be brought to limelight, it was demanded.
The meeting was attended by Hydro power expert engineer Shahabuddin, scientist Dr Riaz Ahmad, Punjab Forum General Secretary Malik Zaieem and others. They said India is making the most dams, outside the USA and China, but it will block any move to build feasible dams in Pakistan. They lamented that Pakistani companies are providing cement for the construction of dozens of the dams in India for profit despite knowing that New Delhi wants Pakistan to become a desert.