BOTH, the prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan would have to start a campaign jointly for a broader consensus among all political parties for the construction of Kalabagh dam.

Nawaz Sharif, who as then prime minister, had stated in 1998 that he proposed to build the Kalabagh dam. Similarly, Imran Khan in his party manifesto had promised to the nation to construct the Kalabagh dam. But both retracted later from their stance owing to Sindh’s opposition to the dam.

The Kalabagh dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam and if constructed would have 3,600 MW capacity of electricity generation. It would be helpful in erasing poverty from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as it would irrigate 800,000 acres of cultivable land that is located 100 to 150 feet above the level of river Indus.

Bashir A. Malik, the former chief technical adviser to the United Nation and World Bank, has rightly said: “Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhawh would become drought areas in the years to come if Kalabagh dam was not built.”

Engr Mansoor Ahmed

Faisalabad

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2015

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