Modi has done which I or some others like me could not do, scared the media into airing programs on the water situation on a daily basis. Invariably the refrain of the discussions is: what will India do, what will we do, are we prepared, our storage capacity is very low, per capita per annum availability of water is below the water-scarce level, all the dams planned on the Indus are snow fed and outside the monsoon range, the heavy monsoons flow down unchecked to cause flood havoc before going waste to the sea, our reserve for any contingency is only 30 days. Not one anchor person or any one expert dares to mention Kalabagh dam which is the obvious answer to all the above worries.
Why cannot Kalabagh dam be discussed in the senate or the national assembly without raising hackles? Is it because Benazir Bhutto had ordained that Sindh will become a desert if Kalabagh dam is built, and her followers have taken this as the gospel truth. She put Pakistan on the path of hunger and poverty when she shut out the hydel option and went for the oil guzzling IPPs. What can be expected if mega quantities of power and water available for the asking are sacrificed on the altar of cheap political gain.
The resulting high cost per unit, the recurring circular debt of Rs 500 billion p.a, shutdown of industry, load shedding, zero investment, flight of industry, loss of jobs, high cost of production, reduced exports, loss of forex earnings, downturn of economy, Rs 192 billion p.a being paid by us in terms of cost differential between thermal and hydel power, loss of $2 billion p.a for each maf that we are not storing.
Negative growth in agriculture, impacting negatively upon the 22% contribution to GDP, on 60% of agro-based exports, on 40% employment of labour force, on the livelihood of 70% of the rural population, loss of jobs, reduced food production, food shedding, food inflation adding to the poverty of the poor.
How can a government deliver, burdened with so many negatives?
Engr Khurshid Anwer
Lahore