Consensus on dams: National Assembly panel to meet chief ministers on July 1

In a bid to develop consensus between the centre and provinces on building Kalabagh, Bhasha and other dams, the parliamentary committee on water resources will hold a crucial meeting with four chief ministers on July 1 before finalising its interim report on existing water resources and the potential areas for constructing new dams.
The initial findings of the committee suggest that Kalabagh, Bhasha and Akori dams were feasible and the provincial chief executives would be briefed on technical aspects of these projects, sources told Business Recorder here on Saturday.
The government is ready to start construction of Kalabagh in 2005, Bhasha in 2007, and Akori in 2008, according to the initial findings of the committee, the sources added.
The Kalabagh dam with 6.1 maf water storage capacity will cost $ 5.6 billion, and generate 3600 mw electricity, while the Bhasha dam would cost $ 6.7 billion and the water storage capacity of the proposed dam was estimated to be around 7.3 maf, and it would generate 4500 mw electricity.
The Akori dam will cost around $ 1.6 billion with 6 maf storage capacity. However, the power generation of capacity of the dam would not be over 600 mw, according to the study of the committee.
Having a capacity of 35 maf for water storage and 3,500 mw electricity generation, Skardu Katzara's pre-feasibility study would be carried out next year.
The sources said that committee would submit report to the President, the Prime Minister and the minister for water and power after having a detailed discussions with the chief ministers.
Meanwhile, a member of the committee told Business Recorder that consensus on Kalabagh dam was a distant dream. "In the backdrop of recent visits of the committee to four provincial headquarters, reaching consensus on Kalabagh is apparently impossible," he said.
"It is the question of NWFP only. The issue is so complex in nature that now the federal government is in a fix how to deal with the issue", he said.
What is technically feasible for the centre is totally hypothetical for the provinces of Sindh and NWFP as far as the issue of Kalabagh is concerned, he added.
He said there was absolutely no common ground for the parties to reach a consensus on Kalabagh. On other proposed dams, there is definitely a possibility that the central and provincial governments could reach a consensus, he remarked.