IT is heartening to see the government initiative to mobilise the masses to generate funds for dam construction. However, the government should also look into the following areas on a priority basis:

Construction of the dam will take a few years. Meanwhile there is a dire need for initiating an energy as well as water conservation campaign. This is the right time that the government should look into the option of metering water usage. The conservation drive and metering will go a long way toward ensuring the optimum usability of water.

It is good to see the people showing enthusiasm in contributing generously towards the dam fund. In my opinion, the government should appoint a domain expert for water and power related projects to build confidence in the people as there exists a trust deficit due to political appointments in this sector.

Last but not the least it is imperative that the government make all information public. That is how much funds are required in total, what would be the total turnaround time, updates about current state of these projects etc.

Sheikh Taimur Nawaz

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2018