THIS is apropos of the news item ‘Tycoon supports plan for privatisation’ (Oct 5). Mian Mohammad Mansha has rightly questioned the claim that power from the Bhasha dam will cost just 16 paisa a unit.

The cost may be much higher because power will have to be transmitted 200 miles to Tarbela through inaccessible hilly terrain prone to landslides, putting up the cost of maintenance.

To cut down on line losses over this long distance, instead of the readily available 500KV switchgear, 750KV switchgear will have to be acquired at a higher cost.

But he is not correct in saying that hydel power is not cheap. Mangla and Tarbela dams are, in fact, producing power at Rs1.54 per unit and so will the Kalabagh dam which has none of the constraints that the Bhasha dam has. However, it is good that Mansha is not against construction of (mega) dams or hydel power.

Small dams cannot give us the amount of water that is required to overcome the chronic shortages which are constantly pitting Sindh against Punjab, and for irrigating the 22 million acres of cultivable land which is lying barren. Nor can small dams play an effective role in flood control. The million-dollar question is: can Pakistan wait for 12 to 15 years for the Bhasha dam?

KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore

Bleak scenario

AN article in Time magazine of Oct 14 talks on the nature of Pakistan’s power crisis in an analytical manner. It states that our energy crisis is costing us five per cent of the GDP or about $10 billion a year, while the IMF has lent us nearly $7 billion.

There is a potential of 100,000 megawatts in the hydel sector while we produce only 6,500 MW of hydel power. Over 30 per cent of energy is produced by plants that burn furnace oil, which has exposed the country to high oil prices.

Neither there is enough energy to keep the system running or to fix infrastructure that leaks electricity, nor is there enough capital to develop cost - effective energy efficient alternatives.

Water and Power Minister Khwaja Asif is quoted as having said: “if we do not solve the energy problem in the next three or four years, we will ultimately end up with no electricity, no water, no employment and no money.”

How do we get out of this bleak scenario? The only way out is to build the Kalabagh dam post-haste that would provide us $12 billion annually to brighten the dark spectre of gloom that surrounds us today. Is anybody listening?

DR M. YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore