PESHAWAR, Nov 13: The NWFP Minister for Irrigation, Shamsul Mulk, has said that Pakistan needs not be called as a poor country in the presence of Indus Irrigation Canal System.

He was delivering a lecture on “Water Crisis” to the provincial executive service probationers of Punjab and Balochistan at NIPA Peshawar on Monday.

He said that the Indus canal system was the largest canal system in the world and if managed properly, Pakistan would get great benefits in the fields of power and agriculture and their related business and industry. However, the minister noted with concern that after the construction of Tarbela, no other reservoir was constructed which was a great negligence.

Stressing the need for more water and power projects in Pakistan, the minister said the most sensitive issue of this century would be clean water and we would have to accord due importance to water resource development.

Mr Mulk said that if we did not manage this resource properly, history would not forgive us.

Later, the minister answered questions put up by the probationers.