KARACHI, Dec 20: Speakers at a conference on Tuesday urged the government to drop the Kalabagh Dam project because if the dam was built, it could threaten federation. Speaking at the Water, Dams and Indus Delta Conference, organized by Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI), they said that the elected representatives of Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP had adopted unanimous resolutions against the construction of the dam, so this controversial project be dropped.
They said the dam project may create hatred among provinces against the people of Punjab. They said that masses and the poor people of Punjab and its intelligentsia were not in favour of the dam.
They also demanded that the Greater Thal Canal should not be constructed and alternate sources of water conservation be found so that water scarcity could be controlled.
Awami Tehreek chief Rasool Bakhsh Palijo stressed that awareness regarding bad effects of the dam on other provinces be created so that masses from Punjab should raise voice against the ruling elite which was pursing a controversial project that could lead to disintegration of the country.
He demanded that the provincial autonomy guaranteed in the Pakistan Resolution 1940 be given to provinces.
He said that the establishment did not give rights to Bengalis which resulted in the formation of Bangladesh. But the establishment did not learn a lesson and similar mistakes were being repeated.
Manzoor Gichki, a senior PPP leader in Balochistan, said the government usually raised the Kalabagh dam issue when it wanted to divert people’s attention from real issues.
At present, it was probably being used to divert the attention of the people towards gross mismanagement and misappropriation of billions of dollars received for rehabilitation of earthquake victims.
He said those who always speak on the directives of agencies have also started speaking against the dam.
He said these people were opposing the dam for the sake of opposition. He said military action was being taken against the Balochs for demanding rights and seeking control over their resources, and soon it would be used to crush Sindhis.
Jeay Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party leader Dr Qadir Magsi said that the dam project be dropped as three provincial assemblies have adopted unanimous resolutions against the dam.
He demanded that over 50 MAF subsoil sweet water of Punjab be distributed among all provinces as was done in case of natural resources.
Mohammad Hussain Mahnati, a Jamaat-i-Islami MNA, said the government had established a parliamentary committee on Kalabagh dam, but not a single opposition MNA was included in the committee.
He said that reports of the parliamentary committee and technical committee on water be published in their original form so that people could know what the committees, selected by the establishment itself, had suggested.
He also opposed the Kalabagh Dam and also demanded that the carpet bombing on Balochistan and Wana be stopped immediately.
PPP MNA Sherry Rehman said the Kalabagh Dam project should be taken to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) which was a democratic forum established to discuss such issues judiciously.
She said that her party was opposed the Kalabagh Dam and instead it wanted to go for a better management of water resources, like the lining of canals etc through which over 45 million acre feet water could be saved, which higher than the storage capacity of Kalabagh Dam.
Zain Ansari (PML–N), Hameed Asghar Shaheen (Siraiki Quami Movement), Asghar Narejo (Sindh National Party), Ismail Allana (PPP Shaheed Bhutto), Yunus Rahu (Labour Party Pakistan), Amin Khattak (ANP), Hussain Bakhsh Thebo, Rauf Sassoli (Jamhoori Watan Party), Ameer Bhambhro (Sindh National Party) and others spoke at the political session of the conference, while earlier a technical session was held and former Sindh Irrigation secretary Idrees Rajput, Dr Ejaz Ahmad (WWF), Tahir Qureshi (IUCN), ex-senator Qazi Abdul Majeed, Adam Ghanghro, Sikander Brohi, Nisar Brohi and others also spoke.