ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: Pakistan urgently requires water storage facilities, and the construction of Kalabagh Dam will provide the best solution to this problem.

This was said by Engineer Dr Yaqub Bhatti, a retired additional secretary in food and agricultural ministry, here on Saturday.

He was presiding over a symposium on water arranged by the Scientists Club in the Pakistan Agricultural Council auditorium.

Mr Bhatti said Kalabagh Dam would benefit the country by increasing food production worth Rs2 billion and providing cheap electricity costing 50 paisa per unit.

“The way energy prices were going up, retired persons would spend their entire pension on paying electricity bills,” he added.

Dr Bhatti also argued in favour of establishing a ‘water university’ to channelize research on storage and its usage.

“Coordination does not exist at present between agriculture and irrigation and the water university could make this happen,” he added.

In his paper on water requirements, Dr Inamur Rahman explained that the international requirement per person was 2,000 gallons of water per day. However, an average citizen of this country was getting 450 gallons a day.

“The present crisis of energy sources that would be over in about 15 years would be replaced with a struggle for the control of water resources,” Dr Rahman said.

The theme of the presentation by another scientist, Akbar Nawaz, was “We have abundant water that Pakistan receives during two rainy seasons, but the depleting sub-surface water in the country is alarming”.

He urged maximum storage of rain and flood water by building dams and reservoirs as well as employing new methods such as ploughing barren fields to improve porosity and constructing drains.

Another water management expert, Dr Shahid, stated: “We used only 36 per cent of the available water, and lost 64 per cent of it during transit. Our storage facilities were less than the country’s requirements.”

Dr Anwar Beg said waste matter, including dissolved chemicals, was being dumped into rivers which destroyed organic life. This must be stopped, he added.

Munir Sheikh said he had studied climate changes of the last 30 years at nine stations including Astore, Bunji, Chilas, Chitral, Dir, Gilgit and Skardu. According to his finding, climatic change in these areas was positive with the wettest period double than the dry seasons.

President of the Scientist club Dr A.Rashid Khan, said: “Water crisis loomed over us, and we felt that since the source of our rivers lay in Kashmir and India, the problem needed immediate solution.— Jonaid Iqbal