ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: Senator Nisar Memon on Monday called on Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and requested him to include areas outside the Indus Basin in the terms of reference (TOR) of the recently formed parliamentary committee on water resources (PCWR).

Almost 70 per cent of the area of Balochistan would also come under the purview of the PCWR, the senator argued.

Mr Memon, who presided over the first meeting of the parliamentary committee on water resources, informed Mr Jamali that the water committee has started working.

He proposed the inclusion of another item in the term of reference allowing the water committee to find solutions to the water problems of the areas outside the Indus Basin, too.

The prime minister said that the water committee was an important body with a sensitive role in the resolution of water problems of the country. “Balochistan is an under developed area with vast resources and fertile, but uncultivated, land. We are working to bring Balochistan and other less developed areas of the country at par with the more developed ones,” Mr Jamali added.

Under the existing terms of reference, the committee is mandated to “review previous water accords and discuss the impact for incorporation in the national irrigation water strategy”.

The parliamentary committee on water resources constituted by President Gen Pervez Musharraf comprises MNA Jehangir Khan Tareen from Punjab, MNA Sardar Ali Nawaz Khan Mahar from Sindh, MNA Sher Akbar Khan from the NWFP, MNA Syed Abdul Qadir Jamaluddin Al-Gilani from Balochistan, Senator Mir Mohammad Naseer Mengal from Balochistan, Senator Syed Dilawar Abbas from Punjab and Senator Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli from the NWFP.