SWABI, Jan 1: Kalabagh dam project posed no threat to farmlands of Swabi or Nowshera districts, says federal minister for power Amir Muqam. He said this while addressing several public meetings here on Sunday. He said the people raising public outcry against the crucial water project were not interested in the country’s development.

The government, he said, was determined to construct Kalabagh dam to meet the needs of the country’s rapidly increasing population.

He also met local people to mobilize public support for the dam in an area considered to be a stronghold of the Awami National Party. Khan Abdul Khan Ghaffar Khan had called district Swabi his second home. PML-Q leaders had been successful in attracting a large number of people on the occasion.

Dispelling reservations voiced by certain quarters against the vital water project, the federal minister said it posed no danger to farmlands in district Swabi, adding it also posed no threat to district Nowshera. Pakistan Army, he said, had camps in the district and the government would never do anything to jeopardize these camps. The government, he said, was sure there was no danger to the area.

Urging the people to reject calls for agitation, the minister said the district would get natural gas supply within a month. He said that the government would provide Rs50 million for the gas supply.

He said there would be no further delay in the supply of natural gas to the region as pipeline network had already been completed.

He said that either President Musharraf or Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would visit the district very soon and announce various development projects for the district.