HYDERABAD, Dec 23: Stressing the need for building more water reservoirs, President General Pervez Musharraf has said that peasants of the provence will the man beneficiaries. He also said that every village in the country would get electricity 2007 under a Wapda plan.

He was addressing a select gathering of students, youths and growers at the circuit house here on Friday.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim were present on the occasion.

He linked building of reservoirs with welfare of peasants whose life depended on their land and who constituted 70 per cent of Sindh’s population.

“I will be the last person to harm Sindh since I am a Sindhi and I cannot take anti-Sindh decisions. I am here to give you something”, he said.

He said that at times leaders had to change path of directions in order to set new trends.

“True leader is not a person who swims with the current but who changes the wrong path with his conviction”, he said.

He said he was in fact interested in wellbeing of peasants in order to save them from destruction.

He said that by 2020 water shortage would be recorded at 15 to 20 MAF on account of increasing agricultural demands.

“There is no need to get emotional because the peasants of Sindh would suffer in the absence of water reservoirs”, he said.

He said he knew that sea erosion had destroyed land in Thatta due to non-release of water Kotri downstream.

He said water could only be released downstream when there was water storage.

He said that monsoon season subsoil water in Sindh was saline while in Punjab it was sweat and farmers could use tube-wells even if canals remain non-perennial.

He said the construction of reservoirs would permanently control the release of water at downstream Kotri so that Thatta and Badin could get water throughout the year.

He said that the building of Skardu dam would submerge forts, being restored by Prince Karim Aga Khan, but the Kalabagh dam could get water from the Kabul, Chitral, Swat, Soan and Haro rivers.

“You can take 10 guarantees at a time, either constitutional, judicial or administrative, and even Sindhi engineers can be made in-charge of the dams”, he suggested.

He said that he encouraged Sindhi youths to join army and now 80,000 Sindhis were serving in the army.