KARACHI: City Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Thursday termed the judgment of the chief justice of Pakistan on building Bhasha dam and Mohmand dam as historic saying that it was highly appreciable that the CJP himself donated Rs1 million for the project.

The mayor said he had also donated Rs100,000 from his personal account and officers of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation had also donated Rs100,000 for the dams. “The whole country should follow the chief justice of Pakistan,” he appealed.

Addressing a hurriedly-called press conference at the KMC’s iconic building, the mayor said it was a good omen that provinces did not have any conflict on building of these dams and added that Council of Common Interests (CCI) had no issue with the construction of these dams.

The mayor appealed to wealthy people of Karachi to come forward and donate generously in the account designated by the CJP for raising funds for the two proposed dams.

He urged philanthropists to come forward and give their due share for the construction of desalination plant in Karachi as “the city has given them a lot”.

Mr Akhtar said that it was unfortunate that billions of gallons of water was wasted due to lack of facilities for storing it.

He suggested that dams should be constructed in different parts of the country after every five years so that huge quantity of water could be stored.

He said that as a mayor he gave an assurance to the chief justice that people of Karachi would extend full support to this judgment.

Replying to a question, the mayor said that there was an acute water shortage in the city, while the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board sent bills regularly. “If water can’t be supplied through taps, the water utility should supply water tankers free of cost,” he demanded.

The mayor underlined the need for changing the entire water distribution system of the KWSB along with valve men.

Kalabagh dam

He said that Kalabagh dam should be built after completion of Bhasha and Mohmand dams.

When asked about the statement of co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to the effect that dam construction was not the responsibility of judiciary, the mayor said there had been only bad governance during the PPP governments.

“Judiciary has the power to build such dams and it is within the purview of the country’s Constitution,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2018