Federal Minister for Water Power, Liaquat Ali Jatoi has said that there was enough water in the rivers for power generation and this he attributed to recent rains upcountry.
He said water was also available for our Rabi and Kharif crops and no complaint of water shortage had been received from anywhere. At the same time he underlined the need for building more water reservoirs for our future needs, because the level of Tarbela dam had considerably gone down during the last decade due to sedimentation. As a result its discharge capacity had been affected.
The minister, who on Monday attended a briefing by heads of Operation Circles of HESCO at Circuit House, said this while addressing a press conference before leaving for Karachi.
He said the capacity of Mangla dam was being increased by a raising project, otherwise it would have also met the same fate like Tarbela, which is gradually accumulating silt.
He thanked Almighty Allah that there was no complaint about water shortage for our Rabi and Kharif crops in Sindh and Punjab as the water flow had been more than 6.12 MAF, as compared to 4 MAF, a few weeks back.
The minister said the country was facing an acute water shortage, and if we do not go for new dams, then we will be playing with future of our generations.
He said, the President and Prime Minister and he himself were committed to take decision in this regard in accordance with the national aspirations, and all the provinces will be taken into confidence before a decision.
The minister said there was no second opinion about building new dams and a decision on them will be taken in the larger national interest. He made it clear that no decision on them has so far been taken and the matter was being actively considered at the concerned level.
He said, at the briefing by HESCO officials in the afternoon here, he had called upon them to forget about the past and make a fresh beginning to make the organisation public-friendly, by creating their confidence.
He said he had warned the officials to shun the habit of negligence and inefficiency, otherwise they will be held responsible for line losses, failure of recovery of arrears and undue load-sheddings and unwarranted detections.
He said, a package had been announced for the consumers under which 50 percent arrears would be waived off against the defaulters of more than 5 years. The package was valid till December 31 2004.
Similarly, a new connection will be available for Rs 300 whereas reconnection charges have been abolished and the arrears of new connections or the old closed connections can be paid in 10 or 15 instalments.
The minister said presently Wapda had surplus hydel power, due to rising level of the rivers, and it is being generated up to its capacity.
He said, he had directed the HESCO officials to retrieve/rehabilitate the Grids, Feeders in their Circles to avoid load-sheddings.
He also underlined the launch of awareness campaigns for uprooting the "Kunda Culture," and power thefts, tampering of metres by involving the public representatives and media-men, and added that no leniency be observed in this regard.
He said he had told the officials that there would be no "Sefarish Culture" so long as he was minister, and all decisions including postings and transfers will be made strictly on merit, irrespective of the number of seniority.
He said he had directed the field staff of HESCO to lower down trippings and to stress on recovery of arrears for which they will be suitably rewarded.
The press conference was also attended by HESCO Chief Executive Adibul Hassan Rizvi and Director Development HESCO Sharif Ansari.
Earlier, the minister addressed HESCO officia1 after the briefing, where MNA from Shikarpur Dr Ibrahim Jatoi and MNA from Khairpur Syed Javed Jillani were also present.
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