The proposed Kalabagh Dam (KBD) is a requirement, which cannot be ignored and must be considered very seriously in the larger interest of the country.
The President, General Pervez Musharraf could have ordered its construction when he was the Chief Executive by using his executive powers but he waited because he believed that the provinces would endorse the idea if convinced about the equal benefit to all. He would guarantee that none would be the loser.
As a representative of the SME farmers I have appealed to the President to address the apprehensions of the provinces about the guaranteed share of each and secondly the criterion whether the distribution would be based on area, population, requirements or the potentialities.
The parameters should be defined clearly if one is seeking approval or endorsement from the stakeholders and there is a certain ambiguity around the subject, which is causing the dissent. As always the big brother calls for the shorts and the younger ones respect and love but do not trust the actions of the senior so also in this case there is a question of fairness and equal share in the benefits.
The next question is that the dam will be completed after several years and nobody knows what the requirements of each of the four provinces will be at that time. The SME farmers were explained the benefits by our team which highlighted the merits of the proposed dam and urged them to accept the idea of the Kalabagh Dam. The experts on Dams should come forward and systematically explain the merits and demerits if any to the stakeholders and dispel the doubts.
According to our team of experts, we have come to the simple conclusion that the KBD is a must and we desperately need a huge reservoir to save the water to be used as and when required and the earlier it is accomplished the better it is.
Finally we must understand the fact that we must not grudge the added advantages of the KBD to any one province by virtue of its location or other unavoidable factors as long as each province would be better with KBD than without it.
The larger national interest must be uppermost in our minds and form the basis of our decisions.
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