ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: Parliamentarians belonging to treasury benches from Sindh have agreed in principle to support the Kalabagh dam if it is constructed as a carry-over dam and have asked Wapda to make public dam’s design.
Informed sources told Dawn on Sunday that the Sindh government had also started briefing the legislators on various aspects of the $5 billion project which according to the Sindh’s point of view should not have any canal either on the right or the left bank.
The sources said that Sindh Irrigation Secretary Bashir Dahar and irrigation adviser Shuja Junejo briefed the lawmakers from Sindh at a local hotel here on Friday.
The meeting was attended by parliamentarians most of whom had recently been briefed by President Musharraf on the same subject.
A parliamentarian who declined to be identified said the meeting sought water availability figures from the government officials to compare it with the figures presented by President Musharraf which were prepared by Wapda and the Punjab government.
He said the parliamentarians would analyze the figures and hold discussions on dam’s design before announcing their support to the project.
The Sindh government, he said, had no objection to the Kalabagh dam if constructed as a carry-over dam.
Most of these parliamentarians believe that Sindh should not oppose the construction of the Kalabagh dam provided its design is made public to let people know that it does not contain any canal and will be used as a carry-over dam to store flood water.
Sindh’s major objection to the project has been that the province will be deprived of its water if the dam has a canal which can be used by Punjab to withdraw water.
The sources said a parliamentary committee constituted by President Pervez Musharraf last month was also holding talks with stakeholders to receive inputs. The committee is led by Senator Nisar Memon.
Nisar Memon, it may be added, is a supporter of the dam and submitted a 18-page report to the government after holding discussions with the water sector experts in Bhurban when he was a member of the military government as its information minister although his NGO — The Reformers — is a strong opponent of the Kalabagh dam.
However, Sindh parliamentarians belonging to opposition parties opposed the project at a seminar last week and expressed doubts over assurances given by Wapda that no outlet to withdraw water would be available to Punjab and water flow would be strictly monitored through the telemetry system.
Meanwhile, President Pervez Musharraf has asked the Wapda authorities to meet parliamentarians and opinion leaders in the NWFP to remove their apprehensions and assured them of fair play viz a viz the Kalabagh dam.
The Wapda authorities would discuss with experts in the NWFP various proposals relating to sharing of royalty among the provinces and compensation to the people who would be affected due to displacements.
The report of these deliberations along with those to be finalized by the Nisar Memon committee would be submitted to the president and the prime minister for further action, the sources said.