Shehla Raza, Deputy Speaker Sindh assembly, said on TV today, ‘We stopped Musharraf from building Kalabagh dam’. I wish the anchor person had asked the learned deputy speaker the reason for the opposition. Apart from politicisation of the issue there is an abysmal level of ignorance about dams, particularly about Kalabagh dam.
Politicians seem to be totally ignorant of the fact that a dam could store 7 million acre feet of additional water for the use of the provinces. There is also ignorance of the fact that with the loss of the eastern rivers, now the whole country has to survive on the remaining three rivers, of which Indus is the only river with surplus flows. It is through sheer ignorance that the people of Sindh are causing incalculable harm not only to themselves but also to the whole country.
ENGR KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore
Ignorance no:
1- dams do not increase supplies
2- Indus is Sindh's river
3- Tarbela dam was built for Sindh
4- Punjab distributes river water, not IRSA
5- Punjab will take more water from KBD
etc
There are two type of distrusts:
1, As above point # 5
2, If at some stage, Pakistan further disintegrate, then Punjab will control/choke water supplies to Sindh.
If Punjab wanted to control Sindh supplies would it have:
– Handed over distribution of river waters to the federal body IRSA in which Sindh has three votes to one for Punjab.
– Would it have increased Sindh's share in all future dams by decreasing Punjab's share, equal share for both, despite Punjab having 70% of the total crop area of the country to Sindh's 20%, and carrying 80% of the total agriculture burden.
– Would Punjab allow engineers from the Sindh irrigation department to be posted on major head works of Punjab. etc.
All this was done under the Water Accord of 1991.
This big brother phobia should not blind us to the colossal damage being done to the economy of the country because of shortage of power and water. Please wake up before it is too late, if it already is not.
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