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| October 16, 2005 | Sunday | Ramzan 11, 1426 |
People urged to join hands against Kalabagh dam: Rally against World Bank held
HYDERABAD, Oct 15: Political activists, under the aegis of Sindh National Council (SNC), here on Saturday held a short protest march from district courts to the Hyderabad press club where they held a rally against the World Bank report on the construction of Kalabagh dam.
Speaking on the occasion, SNC leaders Hussain Bux Thebo, Punhal Sario and Dr Dodo Mehri, irrigation expert Nazeer Memon, SNF leader Ayoub Shar, Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party leader Raza Shah and others condemned the World Bank report.
They said that if the Kalabagh dam was constructed on the salt range site, it will not be able to withstand any earthquake and in case of mishap, tens of thousands of people will be drowned right from Punjab to Sindh.
They said that Sindh will be rendered totally barren and even drinking water will not be available for the people of Sindh. A declaration was also read out which was approved by the rally.
The declaration expressed profound sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives of tens of thousands of people in Azad Kashmir and NWFP due to earthquake.
It condemned the slow response and negligence of the rulers in providing relief to the earthquake victims.
It appealed to the people not to deposit their relief goods with the professional exploiters but with people like Abdul Sattar Edhi and other trust worthy organisations.
The declaration claimed that Sindh National Council was the only organisation of the country which had circulated the World Bank reports on Tarbela Dam and geological survey report indicating that like Tarbela, Kalabagh and Bhasha dams sites could be very dangerous as they were located on the earthquake belt.
The declaration further said that had Kalabagh dam and Bhasha dam been in existence, they would have destroyed many cities of Punjab and Sindh, barrages and bridges and drowned tens of thousands of people in the present earthquake.
Quoting World Bank report, the declaration said that right from 1974 to 1982, tunnels of Tarbela Dam were damaged on many occasions and the government might have spent three times more money on their repairs which was actually spent on its construction.
It demanded that a commission comprising UNO and international experts to assess the damages to Tarbela and Mangla Dams due to earthquakes.
The declaration called upon all the political parties, organisations and fora of Sindh to shun their petty differences and egos and unite on one platform to struggle against the impending danger.
NOTIFICATION: The federal government through a notification issued by the ministry of women development on Saturday has appointed a national commission on the status of women.
Two members of the commission appointed from Sindh are professor Dr Parveen Shah and Ms Simi Kamal.
HESCO: A vigilance committee of Hesco accompanied by recovery mukhtiarkar and technical staff carried out surprise checking of an industrial unit and found that two meters had been installed there.
It also detected that 15kv load was also being taken from the meter of a Wapda employee.
The team disconnected the power supply and imposed a heavy fine on the industrialist.
The vigilance team also detected a faulty meter in another factory through which electricity was being stolen by making a hole in the meter.
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