LAHORE, Sept 12: The Water and Power Development Authority has proposed to convert the Kalabagh dam into a carry-over that may not give rise to any canal.

Wapda chairman Zulfiqar Ali Khan made this suggestion here on Friday while talking to journalists at the inauguration of second block of Wapda Town. The step was aimed at removing fears of water theft expressed by the certain quarters. To remove another dimension of the fear, height of the dam has also been reduced from 725 to 715 feet. These steps would satisfy critics of the dam to a large extent, he hoped.

“A big chunk of the Sindh populace was convinced that Kalabagh dam was necessary for the country and must be built at the earliest,” he claimed.

The chairman also tried to dispel the impression that Kalabagh dam was being delayed unnecessarily and time wasted on other non-workable sites. The authority had forwarded its proposals and it was now up to the government to decide which storage facility should be built first, he maintained.