The suspicions of the lower riparians about Kalabagh dam are through sheer ignorance, they think the dam will reduce flow in the Indus, when in fact it will only store surplus flood waters, when available, the Indus will keep flowing normally. The dam will actually provide Sindh with an additional 2.2 million acre feet, just as Tarbela dam had provided 7 maf. The fear that Punjab will steal Sindh’s water because the dam is in Punjab is untenable, river water distribution is under the federal body IRSA and Punjab has no direct control over the supplies to its canals, in fact under the Water Accord of 1991 Punjab agreed to a reduction in its share to give equal share to Sindh in all future dams despite the vast difference in population and in the area under cultivation. It is a pity that the print and electronic media, with some notable exceptions, has failed to educate public opinion on an issue of such national importance.
What is required is a massive media drive to remove the cobwebs of ignorance planted in the minds of the public by the political leaders who have played politics with an issue of such national importance
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