ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: Senator S.M. Zafar on Tuesday proposed setting up of an ‘Indus water authority’ through an act of parliament which should take decisions about construction of reservoirs and provide constitutional guarantees to stakeholders if needed.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Zafar said that Kalabagh dam was the best option and it should have been built even before Tarbela dam. Quoting officials of the Ayub era, the senator said it was stated then that Kalabagh was more suitable site for a reservoir than Tarbela, but since the country wanted a bigger reservoir first it was decided to go for Tarbela.

He said that providing individual guarantee about construction of the dam would not work and it should come from a constitutional body because it would be easier for an authority to handle a controversy by giving technical briefings to stakeholders.

The ruling PML leader said that Kalabagh dam was being opposed on political grounds because its critics had no firsthand knowledge on its technical aspects and were driven by misunderstandings.