ON Feb 26, a Wapda consultant at a public hearing in Dadu on Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Gaj dam project declared that the dam had no environmental negatives and it would check floods, bring economic and social empowerment, revive local flora and fauna and irrigate 28,000 acres of land.

The locals fear that the dam would pose a regular flood threat as the already-collected dam water would not withhold the additional flow of Nai Gaj as happened in 1995.

The dam would only benefit three union councils while 70,000 people would suffer drought. At least 150,000 acres irrigated through overflowing of Nai Gaj would be rendered barren owing to the dam.

The Right Bank Outfall Drains’s poisonous water would be diverted from the Manchhar Lake to the Ghara Creek. Manchhar would need freshwater and in case of not receiving any from Gaj, the lake would die a natural death.

According to an official website of Wapda, the starting date of the project was May 3, 2012, and the completion date would be May 3, 2015. During a hearing, this writer wanted to know why was there such an inordinate delay in making the report public. The consultant said: “The EIA report was sent to the government department concerned, which is causing the delay. The report should be available in the project director’s office within a couple of days.”

When contacted, the project director said he had not received any report.

There is a need to arrange a public hearing as soon as possible to mitigate the people’s fears by making the dam beneficial to both the environment and the farmer.

Gulsher Panhwer

Johi

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2015

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