One can only lament on the wisdom of politicians who have thought it fit not to build a single hydroelectric dam in the past four decades thus plunging the country into chronic shortage of water and power affecting agriculture and industry badly. Comparing with India and China who have built 4,000 and 27,000 mega dams so far, are we not ashamed of our failure to build a single mega dam in the past four decades? The only two mega dams of Tarbela and Mangla were initiated by a late military dictator FM Ayub Khan upon which Pakistan is existing today. These are silting by the day and would take another two or three decades to get inoperative.
Pakistan needs to look far into the future. Is any politician thinking of making future plans for water and power development? The answer is that politicians are only making fast receding promises which are not being kept thus offering as lollipops to be sucked for a time till public becomes disillusioned. Time and tide wait for none but political masters wait as long as five years to complete their false tenures and do not worry for the posterity. Each succeeding govt blames the past govt for all the misdeeds and voters were left to fend for themselves to face the financial and economic hardships engendered by myopic policies of our wizard politicians which keep on making false promises to people.
DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
