There was very sad news in the media on December 06 that the Ministry of Water and Power in connivance with the so-called Friends of Pakistan, has recommended abolishing age-old first priority to agriculture in the country and instead energy would be given the first priority. Nonetheless, the Irsa and Wapda were asked to prepare operating rules. The new policy as per the media was ready to be announced.
In an agriculture-based country, only a sane person can think of abolishing the said first priority. It appears that bureaucrats sitting in Islamabad, have no other job except to harm the country as the new policy is envisaged to build among others, the controversial Kalabagh Dam.
Three out of four provincial assemblies have already passed 09 resolutions against the construction of the KBD but a lobby has refused to respect the resolutions and is continuously pressing for the construction of the KBD. If the said dam is built forcibly, it would definitely and extremely harm the already fragile country.
Why is such a lobby bitter opponents of producing electricity from the gigantic Thar coal deposits in Sindh? I appeal to the minister for water and power Naveed Qamar to take notice of the conspiracies being hatched by the bureaucrats of his ministry to harm the interests of the three provinces, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on one or another pretext.