LAHORE, Oct 12: More dams are necessary for ensuring a smooth water supply for future needs of the vital agriculture sector, said Sindh Minister for Food and Agriculture Arif Mustafa Jatoi here on Sunday.

Tarbela and other reservoirs have been steadily silting up, and the country must take steps for building reservoirs on the Indus and other rivers. He said that Basha dam could be built before other dams because of a lesser difference of opinion on its construction. There is fear in Sindh that there will be shortage of water after construction of the Kalabagh dam. At present, the province was experiencing some eight per cent water shortage, and the fear is that Kalabagh could take it to more than 25 per cent. Mr Jatoi stressed the need for convincing people on building new reservoirs through dissemination of information at the grassroots.

The Sindh minister termed President Pervez Musharraf’s personal interest in more dams a good omen for the country, and underlined the need for bringing out facts about reservoirs for making them acceptable to the people.

“The country would be in trouble if we, as a nation, failed to take timely decisions about new dams,” he remarked.

The Sindh minister also stressed the need for conserving water by lining canals and water courses in addition to building new dams.

Talking about the Greater Thal Canal, he wondered how a canal could be supplied water when no flood water was available in the country.

Referring to the merger of Sindh Democratic Alliance with the PML, the younger Jatoi claimed that it would not make any difference as far as working of the Sindh government was concerned. The alliance was already part of the PML government and the merger had only formalized a reality. He also ruled out the possibility of change in the government following the merger, which, he added, had not changed the ground realities.

To a question about prospects of cotton crop, the Sindh minister said: “The province was expected to achieve a production target of 2.4 million bales. The overall impact of rain on cotton crop has not been harmful.”

Mr Jatoi was also hopeful about the country achieving the overall target of 10.5 million bales.

Talking about achieving the 15-million-bale mark in the next few years, he said an integrated effort be launched in coordination between the Sindh and Punjab. “If Pakistan was able to produce well over 12 million bales back in the 90s, why it could not produce more now,” he asked.