June 02, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 1: The Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) has proposed the establishment of a national think-tank of engineers to give policy guidelines to the government in order to take the nation out of the present power crisis and improve the infrastructure.

The idea was floated by the Islamabad-based IEP chairperson Engineer Naheed Ghazanfar at a ceremony organised by the institute in connection with the World Engineers Day. She said most of the existing energy problems faced by the nation had roots in the inability of the policy makers to include engineers in the policy-making process.

The former caretaker NWFP chief minister and ex-chairman Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Shamsul Mulk warned that if the country did not launch massive hydel power generation projects “our children will not be able to afford electricity because of the soaring prices.”

The participants also passed a resolution which stated that Kalabagh Dam was a matter of life and death for Pakistan and that the water reservoir should be built with full consensus of all the provinces.