26 January 2004	Monday	03 Zilhaj 1424

LAHORE, Jan 25: The Punjab Water Council on Sunday demanded sacking of Jehangir Tareen, provincial representative in Parliamentary (Political) Committee on Water Resources, from the committee for "damaging the Punjab case".

Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, Hamid Malhi and Rabia Sultan of the council said the Punjab government had been tricked into accepting Kalabagh dam as a carryover reservoir by Mr Tareen.

In the official briefing prepared by the Punjab government and presented before the committee did not include the word carryover nor was it mentioned by Nisar Memon in his press briefing at the end of the meeting on Jan 20. But, Mr Tareen became wise after the event and independently spoke to journalists claiming that the Punjab had agreed to treat Kalabagh as a carryover dam, they claimed. "This is tantamount to betraying the Punjab stance on the issue, hence his removal has become necessary," they said.

When asked that the Punjab government seconded his assertion, both leaders said whosoever had hatched the conspiracy must be taken to task. "The official document, which became part of the government record, does not include the word or concept of turning Kalabagh into a carryover reservoir. During weeks of preparation in run up to the briefing, the Punjab government had not once mentioned a policy shift on the dam, nor its official document includes the word. How it became official stance at the last moment must be looked into by those in authority," they said.

They said Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and Governor Khalid Maqbool must order a probe into the shifting of stance without taking farmers into confidence by a handful of people on the top. The three ministers present on occasion were perhaps not fully briefed on the issue and preferred to keep quiet. But this semantic confusion created by Mr Tareen weakened the case of the Punjab and made the issue still more controversial.

The council said politicians should refrain from making such distorted statements, and the government should start construction of Kalabagh dam forthwith. The dam should also have outlets on both sides and should not, in any case, be treated as a carryover dam. Akhori dam could be built next.

The council was emphatic in its assertion that 1991 Water Accord had lost its utility and must be relooked at. Even the current official briefing had three differing stances on the distribution of water under the accord. Water distribution should be carried out according to historic uses because there was no water to be distributed under the accord.

Distribution should also be equitable and according to the needs of farmers and agriculture rather than treating it as a federal pool and distributed among federating units like fiscal divisible pool, they demanded.

They said the president had taken a very bold step by taking on the water issue in a brave manner. But, the initiatives ran the risk of losing steam mid-stream if politicians were allowed to take idiosyncratic stands rather consolidating national point of view.