Blaming the government for its gross inaction Shahid Sattar, the Planning Commission’s member for energy, dates the problem to the rule of Pervez Musharraf when a massive boom in demand was not matched by investment in new power stations.
Musharraf knew that adding more power stations on imported fuel was not the long term answer. He tried his level best to get consensus on Kalabagh dam: “I will not let Sindh become a desert by not building Kalabagh dam”, but he was thwarted by mindless opposition from Sindh.
The problem very clearly dates back to when the IPPs were inducted by Benazir Bhutto in total ignorance of the fact that the oil at $10 per barrel would one day become $100 per barrel. The IPPs at best should have been for the short term and a major hydel project had to be started for the long term. The problem was that the only dam ready to build at the time was in Punjab – need I say more?
Even today there is no substitute for Kalabagh dam but to show why it is so will take another column.
ENGR KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore