LAHORE: The Supreme Court has been urged to act swiftly on Kalabagh dam issue, either by ordering a referendum on it or forming an independent body that decides the matter after taking all provinces on board.

“As the country was facing the severest water shortage in its history, the Supreme Court must act on water reservoirs issue, particularly Kalabagh dam, before the homeland turns into a desert,” Tehrik-i-Istiqlal president Rehmat Khan Wardag said during a media talk here on Sunday.

He suggested the apex court either order holding of a national referendum on the dam or seek official stance of all the provinces on it and then form an independent committee comprising neutral experts to decide the issue by accommodating reservations of all the federating units.

He said to allay apprehensions of Sindh about water supply, three dams -- in Sehvan, Khairpur Meerus and Jamshoro -- should be constructed for storing sufficient water to meet one-year requirements of the province, while the federal government must also allocate funds for lining all canals in Sindh.

Criticising Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for giving statement opposing Kalabagh dam during his Sindh visit, he demanded the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to also come up with its stance on the controversial project so that the voters could be aware of the water policies of all the major parties. He urged the voters not to vote for any party whose election manifesto lacked clarity on water resources.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2018