ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The parliamentary committee on new water reservoirs will meet on Tuesday to consider the construction of Kalabagh and Bhasha dams, a senior official told Dawn.

The parliamentary committee headed by Senator Nisar A. Memon was set up by President Gen Pervez Musharraf during his visit to Sindh about a month ago aimed at evolving consensus on the construction of new dams

The eight-member committee is represented by two members — one MNA and one senator — from each province. The first meeting of the committee would prepare its Terms of Reference.

The secretary to water and power ministry and Wapda chairman would brief the committee on water shortages the country faced during the last few years and depletion of the storage capacity. The committee would also be briefed about the likely shortages in future.

According to Wapda estimates, the storage capacity will reduce by 34pc by the year 2013 and by 40pc by the 2020.