LARKANA, May 12: Minister of state for water and power Khalid Lund has said that a small dam should be constructed for every two districts of the country to address the water issue.

Talking to journalists at the inaugural ceremony of 132KV Mirokhan Grid Station on Monday, he said that studies were being conducted this regard and pointed that with the construction of Chotyarioon dam in Sanghar district, around 280,000 acres of land would be brought under cultivation.

The minister said that Kalabagh dam could only be constructed after the consensus of all the provinces and in the same breath he added that it was a difficult task to make the provinces agree on the dam issue.

Replying to a question regarding the Sindh Assembly resolution calling for a halt to construction of the Thal canal, he said that he had not seen the resolution and when it would come up before him, he would be in a position to comment.

He rejected the impression that Punjab was stealing water from the Indus river and termed the water issue a secondary one, saying that with the completion of the Ghazi Barotha dam, the water problem would be solved.

When asked about the dispute over the water released downstream Kotri, Mr Lund claimed that the Indus River System Authority was following old decisions in this regard.

Responding to a demand made by Mirokhan Taluka Nazim Dr Ayaz Tunio, the state minister announced that a separate feeder for Mehmoodabad, originating from the Mirokhan Grid Station, would be installed.

He said that funds for completing the electrification of 866 villages in Sindh, where the work had been left in half way, had been sanctioned and added that half of the sanctioned amount had been released while rest of the amount would be available in June.

Earlier speaking at the grid station inauguration ceremony, Hyderabad Electricity Supply Company chief Mohammed Tariq Arshad said that eight new grid stations had been established and the capacity of 10 others extended by Hesco.