MITHI, March 23: Speakers at a seminar held here on Monday on the occasion of the World Water Day urged the government to construct dams on rain-fed rivulets of the Karoonjhar hills in Parkar.

Tharparkar district Naib Nazim Ram Singh Sodho said Rajisthan state of India was less developed in the past but construction of small dams had brought prosperity there.

He said a huge quantity of rain water could be stored by constructing dams in the Karoonjhar hills to utilize it for agriculture and drinking purpose. Nasir Panhwar of the International Union for Conservation of Nature said floods and heavy rains caused loss equal to seven billion rupees last year in Asia. The construction of dams in this drought-hit area would greatly benefit the people, he said.

Thardeep Research and Development Project executive director Dr Sono Khangharani said a comprehensive study should be conducted before the construction of dams.

Akbar Rahimoo presented a paper on rainwater harvesting. He also quoted examples of Sri Lanka and some other countries where this practice had proved very beneficial.

Resolutions passed at the seminar demanded a thorough study of the environmental impacts of dams on the Karoonjhar hills. A resolution demanded that a detailed survey of the underground water resources of Thar should also be conducted.

It demanded that the people of Thar should be taken into confidence about all the development projects pertaining to their region particularly those of coal projects.

It was suggested in the seminar that NGOs and the district government should establish a joint forum for preparing suitable projects for resolving the issue of water in Thar.