TARBELA: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto air-dashed to Tarbela this morning [Aug 22] for on-the-spot inspection of the damage to the gate of a power house tunnel of the world’s largest earth-filled dam. According to [news agencies] ... the water-controlling gate of tunnel No. 2 … has been rendered inoperational with water gushing through the tunnel uncontrolled.

To repair the damage, it has now been decided to open tunnel No. 1 as well and empty the reservoir behind the dam. Immediately after arrival here from Rawalpindi by helicopter, the Prime Minister drove to tunnel No. 2 and then to the main dam, after which he consulted top foreign and Pakistani experts. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by our staff reporter,] Maulana Abul A’la Maudoodi has urged the people … to own the virtues but reject the vices of present day Western society. He was addressing a big students gathering ... at the Karachi University Students Union. The Maulana ... [who] returned ... after a five-month stay in the USA said that the better aspect of American society was its march towards higher goals in education, science, technology and democratic values.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2024