LAHORE, Dec 26: The Tehrik-i-Istaqlal, one of the staunch supporters of the Kalabagh dam, has suggested President Gen Musharraf to invite PML (Functional) chief Pir Pagaro for laying the foundation-stone of the reservoir.

In a communique to Gen Musharraf, party president Rehmat Khan Wardag hoped the Pir would accept the offer and it would be a great step for quelling opposition to the project in Sindh.

He also urged the army ruler to invite Mir Zafarullah Jamali for a one-on-one meeting to seek the former prime minister’s formal support for the water reservoir.

He believed that Balochs could be convinced to give up opposition by offering their province two or three per cent more share in the Indus waters.

Referring to an anti-dam rally in Karachi last week, he alleged that most of the participants were the poor “hired” for the event who had no affiliations with any political party.

He proposed announcement of construction of four small dams while laying foundation-stone of the Kalabagh.

The suitable sites for these proposed reservoirs, according to him, are Munda on the Swat river, and Rahim Yar Khan, Khairpur Meerus and Sehwan Sharif on the Indus.

Khan favoured building of left canal from the Kalabagh dam to irrigate thousands of acres in Dera Ismail Khan, Tonk, Lakki Marwat, Bannu and Kark, the most backward area of the NWFP whose people migrate to other provinces for earning their livelihood.

About the proposed constitutional and legal guarantees for the dam, he said it was a time-consuming process which could be undertaken even after work on Kalabagh was started.