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| July 4, 2005 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1426 |
Kalabagh dam opposed
PESHAWAR, July 3: The Pakistan People’s Party (Hoti group) on Sunday criticized the federal government and political parties campaigning for the construction of controversial Kalabagh dam, saying the havoc wrought by flood in the Frontier province should be an eye-opener for them.
“In order to devise a collective strategy and cope with the emerging flood situation in the NWFP, the PPP-Hoti group would call an all parties conference in Peshawar within the next 10 days,” Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti, the party chairman, said at a press conference here.
The former provincial education minister also hit out at engineers for their statements that there would be no flood in the rivers Kabul, Swat and Indus after 1939.
He alleged that all these “false statements” had been made only to pave the way for the construction of Kalabagh dam.
The PPP-H leader said that there would have been no construction on the riverbanks and in low-lying areas, which resulted in large-scale destruction, had the engineers not issued false statements on behalf of the federal government.
Mr Hoti demanded that the chief election commissioner announce holding of local body elections in the flood-stricken areas of the province in the second phase.
He said the people affected by floods were facing difficulties in receiving relief supplies.
Coming hard on the Durrani-led NWFP government, Mr Hoti said that while it was claiming an ideal law and order situation, people were being killed in broad daylight in bazaars in the presence of security personnel. The culprits, he said, always managed to escape.
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