Floods will soon be upon us, the monsoon flows will join the river flows to become flood flows. In the absence of a dam most of the flood waters will flow down to the sea. A dam will store and save a considerable part of the flood waters.
In the winter months when there is little or no flow in the rivers, the stored water will become available for maintaining irrigation and town supplies. To deny any province its share in the stored water would amount to gross discrimination.
Sindh will get its share of water from KBD by releasing part of the stored water directly into the river. North Punjab can get its share only by raising the level of Indus River by building a dam to provide gravity flow through a left bank canal.
Without this canal north Punjab will not get any water from any dam on the Indus, be it Tarbela, Kalabagh, Bhasha, Akhori or Skardu. Two thirds of north Punjab will gradually revert from irrigated to barani (rain fed), with a 50% loss in the national food production.
Engr khurshid Anwer
Lahore
