The Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is reported to have said that Thar coal project is nation’s future. This is only half truth. Complete truth is that hydel route is the future as it addresses both the needs of water and power. Coal can produce only energy but does not store water like a mega hydroelectric dam and the cost of energy is many times the hydel energy while coal energy is not clean and it is not renewable like hydel energy. The PM who had declared to bury KBD is now riding on the band wagon of coal to have coined a new slogan that coal is the future of Pakistan which is fallacious.
The only remedy for our ills is post-haste construction of two hydroelectric dams, KBD being the earliest to build and operate. PPP would sink or swim on KBD in the next election but the leaders seem to have a blind spot in that coal looks green to them while it is black. In fact, the PM is responsible for creating a dark Pakistan sans light that has blighted the industry and agriculture alike to the impending economic disaster staring us in the face.
DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore