A leader of PTI Mr Shoukat Tareen has recently said on a TV channel that KBD could only be built by a process of reconciliation ie, give and take, in other words. It is strange that various politicians stress the need for reconciliation of provinces for KBD but no one strives to steer the process or even initiate it for a project of vital importance for the country. Even the commission on large dams has concluded that all the large dams of the world were built after reconciliation was achieved by the stakeholders on their building.
The prime minister of Pakistan is on record to have said that KBD has been a victim of politics which is a sad reflection on the part of politicians that fail to see the dire need of KBD to meet our desperate of water and power afflicting the nation. No other dam can deliver us from economic distress in the shortest possible time other than KBD. Bhasha dam alone would be too little and too late to meet our growing needs that can’t wait for another decade or more while India goes ahead with building scores of dams on our rivers passing through occupied Kashmir with the result that water flow is steadily reduced on the rivers to the loss of Pakistan.
Neither the politicians ruling the country nor the superior judiciary has as yet realised the gravity of the situation that has landed us in prolonged load shedding and shortage of irrigation water for our crops due to lack of efforts to reconcile on the issue of KBD. In fact, this was one issue on which the Apex Court could have taken suo motu action to nudge the politicians to adopt a proactive role but sadly no one has awaken to address the serious issue of KBD inspite of learned engineers crying hoarse over the need of post haste building KBD.
Pakistan is threatened by an existential threat in the event of our sitting relaxed in the present scenario of widespread agitation by people going jobless due to closure of industries in the wake of power shortages. Lawlessness is spawned by a situation in which people can’t earn their daily bread by lawful means and they resort the robberies and thefts being forced by deprivation or to commit suicides when they can’t make both ends meet. Is there anyone who cares for Pakistan?
DR MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
