It is said that the Second World War was in fact won by the Grand Cooli dam in USA which made it possible to manufacture aluminum due to cheap power. This enabled the USA to make several hundreds of airplanes that tilted the balance against Germany by playing havoc in its cities caused by massive carpet bombing. This shows the power of cheap energy to decide the fate of war. We in Pakistan scarcely realize that cheap energy produced by a hydroelectric dam is the key to economic progress of a nation in peace as well as war. The wizards of our successive governments are deaf and dumb in this regard so as to push Pakistan in dark ages. The progress of a nation is measured in the modern would by the quantum of energy used by it. When we see that about half of the time there is load shedding the result is closure of industries and large scale unemployment. Therefore, when it is said in the developed world “stupid it is economy” we can say in our case “stupid it is hydro power” to keep afloat economically.
DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore