LAHORE, Dec 11: The Kalabagh dam is not a political issue but a question of economic decision making as it will repay its cost in three to five years, says a conglomerate of eight farmer organisations.

Speaking at a joint press conference here on Tuesday, the farmers insisted that there had never been any objection to its technical viability. The Parliamentary Committee on Water Resources had reposed confidence in the findings of the Technical Committee on Water Resources, whose seven out of eight members had supported the construction of the dam, they said.

“We applaud and whole-heartedly support the recent decision of the Lahore High Court chief justice and expect that the government will implement it. India has built the controversial Sardar Sarowar Dam on Narmada river according to the instructions of an Indian court,” they said.

The court decision also brought to light decision of the CCI in favour of Kalabagh Dam. “We demand that those who kept the decisions away from the public for such a long time be brought to book. The dam is necessary for being the basis of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960. The replacement component of the rivers Beas, Sutlej and Ravi can only be transferred to the affected areas of Punjab if dams are continuously constructed on the Indus river.

“Dams start silting up and losing capacity from the day they become operative. Today, Tarbela has lost 35 per cent of its capacity after 45 years. This falling capacity necessitates building of new dams to ensure the replacement component to Punjab. If lost capacity is not replenished, how can the replacement component be ensured to the deprived areas of Punjab.

“Today, if we had been only relying on run-of-the-river flows, there would be hardly 15,000 cusecs of water available at Guddu. It is only because of dams that Guddu flows are 45,000 cusecs,” the farmers pleaded.

The allegation that Punjab could not be trusted and that it would steal all the water stored in Kalabagh Dam was a farce and had no justification. “When there is only 35,000 cusecs flow in the Indus river and Punjab has the capacity to withdraw 60,000 cusecs, it has never taken out more than its share,” they said.

They said Punjab’s and especially Pakistan’s growing population and rising needs of raw material for the industry required surplus agriculture production. A weak economy could not afford the luxury of avoiding Kalabagh Dam.

“Punjab produces 80 per cent of the country’s agriculture and gets 47 per cent share in water under the Water Accord of 1991 compared to Sindh which produces less than 20 per cent but gets 42 per cent water share. The water allocation of 3.8 feet per acre in Sindh also needs to be rationalised in comparison to Punjab which gets only 1.8 feet per acre.

“Punjab’s share in Irsa decision making is 20 per cent while its share in Water Accord is 47 per cent. This is a grave injustice to Punjab which cannot continue for long and should be undone forthwith,” they demanded.

Political rhetoric, said farmers, was not the answer. “If Kalabagh Dam is not acceptable, Punjab should rethink its future course,” they said.

The farmers would start its construction on their own as they could not afford waste of this vital input and their lifeline due to vested interests, they said.

They said Bhasha Dam’s completion was not possible in the next 20 years whatever the government or its representatives claim. “We ask the farmers to vote only for those who support Kalabagh Dam construction. The consensus is already there in the Water Accord of 1991 hence no new consensus is required,” they claimed.

The farmer bodies at the press conference were: the Farmers Associates Pakistan, the Kissan Board (Pakistan), the Basmati Growers Association, the Guava Growers Association, the Punjab Water Council, the Wheat Growers Association, Aiwan-i-Zarat Punjab, Kalabagh Banao Tehrik and Pyasa (thirsty) Punjab.