Renowned educationist and Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America's Country Director Prof. Dr. Javaid Aziz Awan has welcomed the decision of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar to construct two new dams with immediate effect.
"Government should also carve out a comprehensive, long term and phased strategy to construct small storage dams on existing rivers in addition to utilizing its surplus cultivable land," he proposed in a statement, issued here on Saturday. Dr Awan said that India has constructed many dams on rivers Ravi, Chenab, Sutlej and Jhelum, to control the inflow of water into Pakistan. He said
river Ravi has almost been turned into a small canal while its width is still spreading over a huge track of land. He proposed that initially, along major cities, its width should be determined in consultation with experts and statistics of previous floods.
"This portion of river should be deepened through continuous dredging and the silt removed could be used to raise its banks in addition to strengthening the same," he suggested, asserting that this arrangement would help government store sufficient water to cater to the drinking and irrigational needs of this particular city.
He further said the outer sides of the river banks could also be used for extensive fruit and ornamental tree plantation which would check erosion in addition to having a positive impact on the overall environment of the area.