December 31, 2002	Tuesday	Shawwal 26, 1423

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HARIPUR, Dec 30: Former chief minister of NWFP Raja Sikandar Zaman has opposed water supply to Islamabad from the Khanpur dam.

Talking to newsmen after attending a reception hosted in his honour in village Bandi Seehran here on Monday evening, he said orchards and fertile lands of 22 villages of Panjkatha, spread over thousands of acres, were withering away due to shortage of water but its supply to out-city areas was still continuing.

District Nazim Raja Aamir Zaman was also present on this occasion.

Raja Sikandar, who was a federal minister for water & power during the Zia regime, conceded that at the time of construction of Khanpur dam, the decision to supply water to the twin cities for municipal purpose was very much part of the plan, but the successive government later erased that clause.

He said that due to the continuing drought the inflow in the reservoir had shrunk considerably, but its fallout was to be borne by the farmers and inhabitants of 22 villages of Panjkatha who had rendered sacrifice of their ancestors’ land but received nothing in return, he maintained.

Raja Sikandar Zaman said that when the rains were enough and reservoir was filled to its capacity, the twin cities should be supplied with 110 and 140 cusecs of water from both the canals, respectively.

But otherwise, he said, those who used this commodity for cleaning of their vehicles and floors should not be preferred on a population of thousands of people who used water both for municipal purposes and irrigation.

About provincial tax on property transaction, the former provincial chief executive termed it unjustified, adding that when the people of the district were already paying the same tax to the district government, this tax on the same service ought to be abolished.