Speaking at the Private Sector Energy Roundtable arranged by LCCI, Senator Ishaque Dar has said that resolution of the ongoing energy crisis lies in launching short and long-term projects simultaneously because acute energy shortage would ultimately lead to food shortages. Former Wapda Chairman Tariq Hameed said that small projects of 500 MW would not resolve the power crisis. There is a need to initiate projects that give quantum jump to the power generation. He said that in order to ensure sustained supplies in future, the government should at least start two mega hydro electric projects immediately.
Former finance minister Dr Salman Shah said Kalabagh dam is the only short-term option to ensure cheaper electricity to the consumers, overcome the energy crisis and revive the country’s stagnant economy. He said it was a feasible project and could be constructed in just four years to produce 4,000 megawatts of electricity at a rate of just Rs 1.5 per unit. It is high time PML(N) senators started talking openly about Kalabagh dam. At the same time, they must assure the smaller provinces that their rights have been fully protected under the Water Apportionment Accord of 1991 by entrusting river water distribution to the federal body IRSA, having a higher representation from Sindh.
AHMED JAWAD MIRZA
Karachi
