PESHAWAR, Feb 24: A meeting held here to discuss the Abbottabad Gravity Water Supply Scheme agreed that a formula for sharing water between the districts of Abbottabad and Haripur should be determined by a judge of the Peshawar High Court.

The meeting, which was attended among others by NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and elected representatives from Haripur and Abbottabad, also accepted the proposal that a committee of experts would propose measures to construct small check dams.

The governor said they had gathered to remove the apprehensions of the people about the Abbottabad Gravity Water Supply Scheme. Highlighting the background of the proposed project, the governor said that President Pervez Musharraf in response to a demand of the people had issued directives for the said scheme.

The demand was made at a public meeting the president was addressing in Abbottabad some time back. The government, he said, held that people of all areas had equal status, and it would never allow anyone to encroach upon the rights of others.

As far as the Abbottabad Gravity Water Supply Scheme was concerned, he added, it was totally a technical matter, and rights of all the people would be determined according to the findings.

However, Mr Shah urged the people to demonstrate a spirit of accommodation in this respect. "It is a responsibility of the government to arrange resources for welfare projects, and it is quite encouraging that the Japanese government is going to generously share the cost of this project," he added.

The governor welcomed the proposals for forming a judicial commission and technical committee. The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan, provincial ministers Sardar Mohammad Idris and Akhtar Nawaz Khan, MPAs Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Qazi Asad and Faisal Zaman and district nazimeen of the two districts.