12 November 2004	Friday	28 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Nov 11: Punjab Minister for Irrigation Aamir Sultan Cheema on Thursday hoped that the federal government would soon take a decision about building dams.

He told newsmen at an Iftar that the country was facing acute water shortage mainly because of dwindling storage capacity.

"The federal government had realized the importance of the issue and is in the process of evolving consensus among the provinces on new dams.

"President Pervez Musharraf will take parliament into confidence on this issue and also visit all provinces in this connection," he added.

In the meantime, he added, Technical Committee on Water Resources would submit its report on the availability of water for building storages in near future.

He hoped that after the completion of this process, President Musharraf would formally announce construction of dam.

Mr Cheema claimed that he was in constant touch with Sindh ministers for irrigation, agriculture and Food. "We have had several meetings on water shortage and other issues," he said and added that he would visit Sindh after Eid on the invitation of irrigation minister.

He said recommendations of technocrats should be given preference while deciding technical issues. "Unwarranted interference of non-technical people always complicated technical issues," he added.

He said the provincial irrigation department had prepared a comprehensive water management plan to cater to the requirements of wheat sowing. It was for the first time that both Mangla and Tarbela dams had fallen short of their capacity, creating unprecedented shortage in the ongoing Rabi season, he concluded.