Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that the construction of Kalabagh Dam was against the interest of Sindh and he would oppose it tooth and nail.
He was giving statement on the floor of the House on the Kalabagh Dam issue when the Sindh Assembly resumed its session on Thursday at 10:55 am. Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussein Shah was in the chair.
The chief minister said Kalabagh Dam was against the interest of the people of Sindh and he would not play politics on this issue, adding that he would prefer to resign from his position as the chief minister of Sindh than to enter into any deal to save his position.
He said that efforts should be made to develop consensus on this national issue among the four provinces and give all the stakeholders guarantee that there would be no infringement of their rights.
He said he was not a traitor and would stick to his commitment on the Kalabagh Dam issue. "Instead of insisting upon the construction of the Kalabagh Dam it would be more appropriate to construct Skurdu Dam, Basha Dam and other dams that could be conceived by the federal government."
He said, "the need to conserve water and save it for prescribed period is one convincing argument but the conservation and storage of water and generation of power at the cost of the lives of the people of Sindh is just not thinkable."
Rahim said that the people of Sindh, despite assurances from the federal government, had their reservations and they should be looked into.
Experience has been bitter, therefore to expect from the people to believe in words of the government would just not be possible. "People have lost faith in governments.
"They should be given assurances from the World Bank, the Supreme Court of Pakistan and constitutional guarantee, after carrying out amendments in the Constitution, that the rights of the people of Sindh be protected strictly in accordance with their wishes before they are taken into confidence on the KBD issue."
The chief minister appreciated the stance taken by their coalition partners in the Sindh Cabinet Muttaheda Qaumi Movement, who have taken a firmer stand on the KBD issue.
He demanded of the government that the report of the technical committee and the parliamentary committee set up to examine the KBD project and come up with their recommendations. One of these committees has Senator Nisar Memon and the other AGN Kazi as chairmen.
After giving statement, the chief minister along with Irrigation Minister Nadir Akmal Leghari left for Islamabad for a meeting.
Later, PPP MPA Anwar Ali Khan Mahar moved an adjournment motion to discuss Kalabagh Dam, a matter of urgent nature and of immediate importance, after suspending all proceedings under rule 211.
He moved the motion for the relaxation of rule, which was carried unanimously.
Mahar initiating the discussion gave historic perspective to the water issue. He went into technical details and the consequences of the construction of Kalabagh Dam.
He said that sea has already swallowed 1.25 million acres fertile land of Sindh, which was also home to one million people and had eight towns of medium size.
He said that the affected people were neither compensated nor any plan to rehabilitate them was ever developed.
Mahar said that the people of Sindh would not approve any plan that would hit them financially, economically, socially and culturally.
Subsequent speakers Dr Irfan Gul Magsi, Heer Ismail Soho, Shakir Ali, and Farida from the treasury benches and Murad Ali Shah, Sasui Palejo, and Humaira Alwani from the opposition expressed their views, discussed various aspects of the KBD and opposed its construction.
Chairman Mohammed Hussein was in the chair after Zohar prayer session. After Alwani completed her arguments, the chairman adjourned the House to meet again on Friday at 9 am.
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