14 January 2005	Friday	03 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: The provinces have reservations on almost all terms of reference (TORs) of the Technical Committee on Water Resources (TCWR) but their fears are rather more on the issue of water distribution.

This was stated by TCWR chairman A.N.G. Abbasi here on Thursday after the conclusion of a three-day meeting of the committee that completed the presentation and fact-finding stage of its deliberations.

He was asked whether the provinces still have objections over the question of water distribution among the provinces, he said the provinces had reservations on almost all the TORs and reservations over water distribution were rather more.

Mr Abbasi told reporters that the committee was briefed by the chairman of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on distribution of water and telemetry system which was commented upon by members of the committee.

He said the committee noted that its members should be given an opportunity to deliberate upon the briefing given by Irsa chairman and other facts and figures on all the issues.

Hence, it was decided to hold a final round of discussions on all TORs soon after Eidul Azha and then see as to what next steps should be taken for the finalization of the report.

He said the committee wanted to present concrete facts and recommendations to the government so that the report becomes a result-oriented document. Responding to a question, Mr Abbasi said the committee's time period for finalization of the report would completed by end of February but the deadline was not rigid.

He said the primary objective of the committee was to achieve greater objectives of national importance and hence the quality of work was more important than the deadlines. The committee would hold maximum professional discussion on all subjects and provide quality output to the government.

Responding to another question, the TCWR chairman said it could not be stated at the moment as to how much headway had been achieved because the committee did not want to make public its findings before these are finalised.

He, however, said it would be decided by the government and not by the committee, whether or not to make public the report of the technical committee keeping in mind the national interest.

He said the next meeting of the committee would also involve some co-opted members for discussions and some sessions would be restricted exclusively for the members of the committee.