QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Winder Dam.

The project was approved in 2011 and then president Asif Ali Zardari performed its ground-breaking, but work on it has yet to start.

The irrigation department’s officials gave a briefing to Chief Minister Alyani on the dam project and told him that it would be completed in four years at a cost of Rs15,230.76 million.

Provincial Minister Ab­­d­ul Khaliq Hazara, Advi­ser Akbar Askani, Senator Din­esh Kumar and Irrigation Secretary Ali Akbar Baloch and other senior officials also attended the ground-breaking ceremony.

The officials said that with the construction of Winder Dam 10,000 acres of agricultural land would be irrigated in Winder and adjoining areas.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan, while going through the files of the Winder Dam project, observed that no work was started on it. “We will complete the work of the dam,” Mr Alyani said.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that his government was utilising all available resources for the economic and social development of Balochistan

“With the construction of the dam a vast area of Winder would be irrigated,” he said, adding that the federal and provincial governments had paid special attention to its construction.

Mr Alyani said the dam would significantly increase the socio-economic development of the region as the government was taking steps under a comprehensive strategy to promote the agriculture sector to enhance production.

“This important project could not be completed due to the negligence of previous governments as it was not their priority,” he said.

The chief minister also laid the foundation stone of Hub Southern Bypass in the industrial town of Hub.

Speaking on the occasion, he said this bypass was very important for industries established in the area and it would also benefit the people of Hub City and Sakran.

“Opposition says road construction does not bring development,” he said, adding that roads always brought development and jobs for the people as they connected other areas of the province.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2021