LAHORE, Jan 19: The parliamentary political committee on water issues is meeting the representatives of the Punjab government here on Tuesday to get their view on important issues.
According to sources, the Punjab will insist on its stand of favouring immediate construction of a reservoir that could be completed within next five years (euphemism for Kalabagh dam). "It is largely because it is convinced that unless a major dam comes into existence in the next five years, the country is bound to hit agricultural disaster with losing both food security and cash crop."
They said it would insist on a canal off-taking from the left bank of the proposed dam, as the upper parts of the province had been living on replacement water since the Indus Basin Water Treaty in the mid-sixties. These areas, they added, had not received water for development purposes in the last 40 years and the new dam was their only hope.
The Punjab had also been insisting that the committee should restrict itself to a single-point agenda of building a consensus on dam rather than touching upon the already settled issues. G N Abbasi, head of the technical committee, would also be accompanying its members.
The committee, the sources said, would be given briefing by the Punjab Irrigation Department in the morning, which would be followed by a meeting with three MPs. The provincial ministers for agriculture, irrigation and revenue would also brief the committee on the Punjab case.
After spending a busy day in the city, the committee plans to visit Head Balloki on Wednesday to inspect Telemetry System installed over there.
It is pertinent to mention that the National Assembly speaker had constituted an eight-member parliamentary committee on Oct 10, 2003, to be chaired by Senator Nisar Memon, to evolve national consensus on water issues.
The committee comprises four MNAs and as many senators (from all the provinces). Its members are Jehangir Tareen (Punjab MNA), Sardar Ali Nawaz Mehar (Sindh MNA), Sher Akbar Khan (NWFP MNA), Syed Abdul Qadir Jamaluddin (Balochistan MNA), Mir Naseer Mengal (Balochistan senator), Syed Dilawar Abbas (Punjab senator) and Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli (NWFP senator).
According to the committee's terms of reference, it will "develop a national irrigation water strategy with a consensus in order to ensure sustainability for the system by reducing huge water losses. This involves critical maintenance of the system, including lining of canals. It is also supposed to ensure that the quantum of necessary water storages, which is required for the optimal and sustainable running of the entire canal system, is protected."
The committee has also been asked "to suggest ways to ensure that the national irrigation water strategy remains environment friendly, and preserve the ecology of our country with special focus on the minimum required outflow/discharge below Kotri into the sea."