PESHAWAR, Dec 26: The Pakhtunkhwa Students Organisation (PSO) will hold countrywide demonstrations against the construction of Kalabagh dam. PSO’s central secretary general Hameed Ali Shah made this announcement at a press conference here on Monday.

He said that students would also participate in the December 29 rally arranged by the Awami National Party.

He claimed that dozens of alternatives to Kalabagh were available but they were not being examined because “they were not likely to bring water of the Abbasin (Indus river) under the direct control of the Punjab”, he said, adding that Kalabagh dam was not meant to be a reservoir but a project to control the flow of the Indus.

Fayaz Bacha, an office bearer of the PSO, said 1971-like situation was being created wilfully to divert attention of the masses from issues like military operations in different parts of the country.

He said that the president need not take pains of elaborating pros and cons of the controversial project because people of the NWFP and Sindh knew what was beneficial for them.