The nation has already suffered much and will suffer more, if there was any further delay in construction of Kalabagh dam, said former Wapda chairman Engr Shamsul Haq.
Speaking at a symposium on 'Water crisis in Pakistan and Solutions', organised by the Pakistan Engineering Congress (PEC) here on Thursday, he said the Kalabagh dam was not only relevant to NWFP, but also important to whole country.
Punjab Housing Minister Raza Ali Gillani said, on the occasion, that in prevailing difficult situation, the country demands of its engineers more dedication, zeal and honesty of purpose.
Referring to prevalent water problems in the country, he said the government moving in right direction, had already constituted a Parliamentary Committee headed by Senator Nisar A. Memon, adding the committee has to inter-alia seeks consensus of the four provinces on the construction of major dams, including Kalabagh dam.
He said apart from consulting the specialists, the committee would also be taking politicians of all shades into confidence, while the committee is well on its way, and would soon be coming up with necessary recommendations.
Speaking on the occasion, PEC President Ch Muhammad Rashid Khan said the country, at present, needed 15 MAF of additional water as well as 4,000 mw of electricity and the solution lies in immediate construction of Kalabagh dam.
Terming exorbitant thermal power rates as deterrent for the country's existence, he said this had rendered our manufacturing industry non-competitive in foreign markets, apart from hampering progress and development.
"Our industries can resort to mass production of goods at cheaper rates to compete with other industrialised nations provided that cheap electricity was made available", he added.
The PEC chief also if the country wanted to be in the comity of developed nations and earnestly desire to take out 40 percent population living below subsistence level and meet the food needs of rapidly expanding population, there can be no escape from construction of Kalabagh dam, he noted.
Engr Rana Khurshed Anwar, in his key-note address, said that most of our agriculture lands were in arid and semi-arid regions traversed by River Indus and its tributaries with tremendous seasonal fluctuations in their discharges., adding the age-old irrigation pattern, based on run of the river systems and antiquated agricultural policies are highly inefficient and no longer tenable, especially in the wake of our burgeoning population and needs of ever-increasing mouths.
He said hydrological phenomena, El Nino and La-Nina, cause cyclic variations in precipitation and run off, adding one causes high precipitation and serious flood, while other result in scanty and sometimes zero precipitation causing serious drought years.
He said the delay in taking up new large/mega dams not only for the replacement of lost storage, but also to develop new resources, would never be forgiven by our prosperity.
"It is a self-inflicted crisis. No nation can endure such lapses for longer spell of time", he averred.
A number of engineers, including Mian Hafiz Ullah, Dr M.A.Q. Jahangir Durrani, Fateh-Ullah Khan, Muhammad Farooq Khan Niazi and others spoke on the occasion.
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