HYDERABAD, May 28: Federal Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has said that new dams will be constructed on the basis of the report of parliamentary and technical committees on water resources and consensus among the provinces.

He was talking to journalists at Indus Coal Mines area, about 30 kilometres from here, on Friday. The minister said that the parliamentary committee and the technical committee were headed by Senator Nisar Ahmad Memon and A. G. N. Abbasi, respectively, who belonged to Sindh. Therefore, there was no question of injustices with the province.

He said that the committees would submit their reports after reviewing water resources of the country. Responding to a question about appointment of Indus River System Authority members, Mr Sherpao said that the matter had been discussed by the Senate, National Assembly and the NA's Standing Committee and a summary in this respect had been submitted.

Answering another question, he claimed that installation of the telemetry system at dams and barrages had eliminated water theft. He added that water was being judiciously distributed.

Replying to a question regarding shortage of water, the minister said that it was because of non-melting of snow. He said that the government was hoping that sufficient water would be available after the country received heavy snowfall in winter but non-melting of the snow caused the shortage.

However, he said that despite the shortage, Sindh had been supplied required water for the Kharif season. He added that Wapda had constituted a committee which was monitoring the water situation on daily basis.

He said that the government had planned rehabilitation of old barrages and raising of the Mangla Dam to ensure availability of sufficient quantity of water.

About establishment of a power generation unit in Karachi, the minister said that a US company had shown interest in generating 500 megawatt electricity through coal and solid waste and setting up a desalination plant in Karachi.

According to the proposal, he said, 10 to 15 per cent coal would be utilized along with solid waste for generating the electricity, adding that it was a new technology in the country. He said that Karachi produced 10,000 tons of solid waste daily and establishment of the unit would resolve the problem of disposal of the waste too.

High-ups of the company had held meetings with President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the water and power ministry and they were preparing a feasibility report, he added.

Earlier, speaking at a public meeting earlier, Mr Sherpao said that reforms introduced by Gen Musharraf had brought about revolutionary changes in the water and power sector.

He said that water and power policies of the government had attracted foreign investors who had shown interest in establishing coal-based power units in the country.

The minister said that after establishment of the power projects, the demand for coal of Lakhra would increase. He that he had also asked the Lakhra Coal Power Station to generate power from its all three units to utilize maximum quantity of coal of the area.

He said that the government was making efforts to provide maximum facilities in coalmine areas. He said that a number of industrial units, particularly cement factories, were now using coal which he said was cheap as compared to oil. Coal was helping the economy and the country was saving a huge foreign exchange, he added.

He said that a Rs100 million scheme was on the anvil to provide electricity to Lakhra. Pakistan Muttahida Labour Federation secretary-general Qamoos Gul Khattak, provincial president Haji Pirzada, Abdul Raziq and Amjad Ali also spoke on the occasion.