25 December 2004	Saturday	12 Ziqa'ad 1425

HYDERABAD, Dec 24: Sindh Minister for Water and Power Nadir Akmal Leghari has said that a decision about Kalabagh dam or any other dam will be taken in the light of technical committee's report.

He said the resolution of the Sindh Assembly on the greater Thal canal had already been sent to the federal government with a request that the matter be placed before the Council of Common Interest.

He was speaking as chief guest at a consultative workshop on 'water reforms' organized by the media and communication section of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority here on Thursday.

Mr Leghari said there was an overall water shortage of 47 per cent in the country and claimed that Sindh had consumed more water than its share. He said the shortage of water in Sindh would continue for some more time.

Mr Leghari said the rotation programme had been introduced in all Sindh barrages due to a shortage of water. He said President Gen Pervez Musharraf had stressed the need for the construction of dams to meet water needs of the country but the final decision would be taken on the basis of technical water committee's report and with the consensus of all provinces.

The minister said the committee had been appointed to assess any defects in the Kotri Barrage which had yet to submit its report. The minister conceded that officials of the irrigation department were corrupt, saying the entire system could only be improved if all the stakeholders were included in it.

He said corruption had many facets which included appointments, transfers, water theft and embezzlement in development schemes. He said he was under tremendous pressure in respect of transfers of irrigation officials but vowed to resist all pressures.

He made it clear that appointments and transfers would be made purely on merit and seniority. He said 67 per cent of funds for repairs and maintenance and 50 per cent of funds allocated for development schemes were misappropriated.

He said in the irrigation department alone not a single appointment or transfer was made on merit during the last 20 years. Mr Leghari said there was no dearth of competent and honest officers in the department and added that such officers would be encouraged.

He said the repair work at the Sukkur Barrage and the LBOD was proceeding at a hectic pace under the supervision of army officials including officials of the department. He said an amount of Rs1 billion had been allocated for the repair of Sukkur Barrage.

Mr Leghari emphasized that no project could be successfully completed without the participation of people. About Sida, he said, it was a good organization but added that some farmers' organizations were not doing their work properly.

He said he would resolve problems of the farmers' organizations. He claimed it was for the first time that the Sindh government had presented a strong case on the water issue before the federal government.

He stressed the need for distributing water in accordance with the water accord. He said to take out watercourses directly from the canals was a very complicated matter, adding that there were 6,000 watercourses only on the Rohri canal. He said all illegal watercourses would be demolished and no one would be allowed to take out a direct water outlet from canals.