KARACHI, Aug 25: President Pervez Musharraf on Monday called for the formation of a technical committee to look into the details of water-related issues and construction of dams and their locations.
Simultaneously, he said, a political committee of the National Assembly would also be set up to deal with the issue and submit its report to the assembly for action.
Presiding over a meeting at the Governor’s House to discuss water-related issues and to develop a consensus on the construction of reservoirs, the president announced that Mr A.G. Abbasi would head the technical committee.
He said the objective was to develop a consensus on the construction of reservoirs, not only the Kalabagh and Bhasha dams but also other dams to conserve water.
The president listened to the issues raised by the participants of the meeting who included A.G.N Abbasi, Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah, Hasan Ali Chaniho, Prof Dr Iqbal Ali, Abdul Majeed Nizamani and Mr Manzoor, a former chief engineer.
President Musharraf said it would be in the interest of Sindh and the country as a whole if reservoirs were constructed with consensus. It would be better to take everyone along and he was making efforts in this regard.
He agreed that the 1994 draft was not an accord, but at the same time the provision contained in the 1991 Water Accord for construction of reservoirs was also not implemented.
He said on average 35 million acres feet irrigation water from Indus annually goes into the sea, which must be saved and stored by constructing dams.
Gen Musharraf said if these flows had been conserved, the country would have many dams filled with water to meet the irrigation requirements.
The president pointed out that existing dams were getting silted and by the year 2013, siltation would cause a reduction in the water storage capacity by five million acres feet.
He said according to a proposition, 10 million acre feet water should go downstream Kotri, but this proposition, too, had not been studied and the terms of reference of all the four provinces were different on this issue.
The president said these were the issues which the technical committee and the National Assembly’s political committee would examine and submit a report before the lower house for deliberation and consensus.
President Musharraf said Sindh would not be deprived of even a single drop of water and it was for this reason that the Irsa headquarters was shifted from Lahore to Islamabad. In order to ensure transparency, the five-member Irsa had two members from Sindh, he added.
He said to ensure just distribution of water, telemetry equipment had been installed at 23 locations. The system would show how much water was being discharged from a dam or barrage and would ensure transparency in providing due share of water to the provinces.
The president said Sindh must get its due share, whether the Thal canal was constructed or not.
He pointed out that there was a dispute on the name of Thal canal. He said Sindh maintained that it’s name should be Thal Flood Canal but in the 1991 Accord it was named as Greater Thal Canal, otherwise it was a flood canal.
The president pointed out that a study for Bhasha dam was started in the year 2000 and now it was almost complete and by June 2004, it would be known whether or not the dam was feasible.
He said if the construction of Bhasha dam was started in December 2006, it would be completed in 2013, while the Kalabagh dam whose PC-1 is ready, could be completed by 2010.
He said the political committee would also address the contentious issues. It would have representatives from all the four provinces and after completion of its assignment it would submit its report along with an action plan before the National Assembly.
The president said the technical committee would also have representatives from the four provinces. “Let us all join hands and save Sindh which will be the greater loser if reservoirs are not constructed,” the president declared and said that Sindh would get its share.
Speaking on the occasion, A.G.N. Abbasi stressed the need for improving water storage facilities by constructing carry-over dams. He demanded distribution of water under the 1991 Accord.
He pointed out that the authorities started filling Mangla Dam in March at a time when Sindh was needing water for the kharif crop. The point was well taken by the president who said the technical committee should look into it.
The president pointed out that he had approved Rs10 billion for water management in Sindh and asked Dr Hafeez Shaikh to ensure the release of funds.
The meeting was also attended by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, Chief Minister Sardar Ali Mohammad Mehar, federal ministers Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, provincial ministers Arif Mustafa Jatoi, Shoaib Bukhari, senior adviser Aftab Shaikh, Senator Nisar Memon, Corps Commander Lt-Gen Tariq Wasim Ghazi and senior officials. —APP
