ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: The World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have urged the government to develop an early 'political consensus' to build Kalabagh Dam or Basha Dam to overcome the growing water and power problems in the country.
Informed sources told Dawn that both the donors believed that high-level efforts were required for this early consensus to build new bigger dams in Pakistan.
These donors were of the view that President Gen Pervez Musharraf, who has been very strongly pleading for new dams, should take up the matter with the important political parties and regional groups afresh so that some decision could be taken on building these dams.
"Without the personal involvement of the president, this political consensus for building new dams is unlikely to be achieved," said a source.
Both the donors considered building of new bigger dams were very essential for Pakistan, for which, they said, certain consensus must be achieved as early as possible.
The decision to accelerate the feasibility study of Basha Dam, sources said, was appreciated by the World Bank and the ADB, as it was an important step in resolving political impasse on Kalabagh.
However, much more work needed to be done during the next year to deal with the political economy and technical question before Pakistan was ready to propose a large storage project to donors for financial support.
The donors believed that the political consensus was essential to build on the sequencing of storage project, assisted by good economic studies that would throw light on the options available for operation of new reservoirs.
Earlier, in 1985, Wapda had got a World Bank assisted feasibility study conducted by a British Company- Pinnie and Partners- for building Kalabagh Dam at a cost of $5.4 billion.
Later, the bank also helped in getting conducted an environmental study for the dam. But so far the issue is unresolved due to want of a consensus.
The technical choices between water releases for the agriculture sector and electricity generation and the management options for releases in Rabi versus Kharif must be debated and settled as part of the decision to build additional storage.
The dialogue on the one hand will clarify the economic and political rationale for future storage and on the other hand help minimize future conflicts among provinces.
The government has initiated a large system expansion programme focused on three canals: Greater Thal, Kachhi and Rainee canals.
These canals will enable diversion of 4.6 MAF of water and will cost over Rs90 billion.
These projects are driven primarily by the desire of the provinces to utilize their respective shares under the Water Accord, though until more storage is built, they will receive perennial supplies for only 75 to 90 days during the Kharif season.
The World Bank especially maintained that while these projects respond to strong regional interests, the final scale, phasing, and cost coverage of these projects must be re-examined, particularly after the feasibility studies of Kachhi and Rainee canals had been completed.
The trade-offs among the provinces and stakeholders with provinces must be revisited and agreed-on as part of the new drainage and water accords. The conflicting political economy considerations underlying these choices cannot be minimized, but with the help of technical feasibility studies, consensus should be possible on the broader national interest, the sources said.
The World Bank believes that a balance programme of institutional development, higher investments in water and appropriate incentives to conserve water and use it more efficiently is well within Pakistan's reach.
