ISLAMABAD, Sept 11: President General Pervez Musharraf has directed three separate institutions to scrutinize within 15 days the technical report of the ANG Abbasi committee on water resources to take further steps towards construction of big dams, it was learnt. A senior government official told Dawn on Sunday that the President House, Engineering Corps of the Pakistan Army led by Lt-Gen Mohammad Zubair and the ministry of water and power have been asked to separately scrutinize the report.
The official said the president wanted to hold an inter-provincial meeting or a meeting of the National Security Council some time next month to finalize a strategy for achieving national consensus and take a formal decision on the construction of a big dam.
The official said the National Security Council had already authorized the president to take a decision on construction of a big dam in the national interest but he (the president) wanted to take all the stakeholders into confidence on the basis of the technical report’s findings.
The water and power ministry has assigned the task of examining the report to adviser on water Riaz Ahmad Khan, who has also been directed to finalize his assessment of the report before President Musharraf’s return from the United States, the official said.
Mr Khan, a former additional secretary, water and power, and an engineer, was recently appointed as adviser on water to coordinate spadework for the construction of big dams. The technical experts of Wapda and National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) are currently busy updating cost estimates and the feasibility study of Kalabagh dam, the official said.
The ministry has also been asked to prepare for a comprehensive briefing the president has desired to be given soon after his US visit next weekend. The briefing to the president is expected to take place on Sept 19 or 20, the official said.
The ministry has also been asked to identify ‘flash points’ of the report and their likely repercussions and how these could be addressed as the president may like to seek further clarifications from Mr Abbasi before he is formally relieved.
Mr ANG Abbasi, the chairman of technical committee on water resources, submitted his report to the president, the prime minister and the water and power ministry last month.
The official said the ministry was rather concerned that even though he had termed at least five big dams “technically feasible, Mr Abbasi found water availability enough only for one big dam.
The report did not take into account about two million acre feet of water that India was not utilizing from the rivers Jhelum and Chenab allowed to it under the water treaty.
The report said New Delhi could bring more land under cultivation any time and consume this water.
