Kalabagh Dam (KBD) Must To Avert Water Crisis: Lahore Chamber Of Commerce And Industry (LCCI)

Lahore Chamber of commerce and Industry (LCCI) said on Saturday that water scarcity in Sindh and other parts of the country was due to our inability to build Kalabagh Dam (KBD).

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th May, 2018 ) :Lahore Chamber of commerce and Industry (LCCI) said on Saturday that water scarcity in Sindh and other parts of the country was due to our inability to build Kalabagh Dam (KBD).

LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid expressed these views in a media statement that not the Sindh alone but the entire country was facing the issue of water scarcity, citing that situation in Sindh was severe but it was not due to Federation or Punjab.

It was because of those elements who were against the Kalabagh Dam. He added that this notion was totally wrong that Kalabagh Dam would turn Sindh into an arid zone, and actually delay in construction of Kalabagh dam was the only reason of water shortage in Sindh.

Water supply to Sindh was averaged 36.6 million acre feet annually before construction of Mangla and Terbala dams and this supply was enhanced to 40.30 million acre feet after building of these dams, he said and mentioned that Kalabagh Dam would also supply over four million acre feet additional water to Sindh.

Malik Tahir Javaid said that Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry had already feared that water crisis would hit the agriculture sector of Punjab and Sindh as country had no big water reservoirs while water storage capacity in Terbela and Mangla dams had considerably gone down, therefore, Kalabagh Dam was a must for the country.

"It will be better if anti-Kalabagh elements play role for early construction of this mega project instead of fueling the provincial conflict otherwise our future generations would suffer," he maintained.

LCCI President said that Kalabagh dam was inevitable for the progress and prosperity of the country as it would produce power at an average cost of Rs 2 per kwh, and this cheap power would annually displace costly power worth approximately Rs 300 billion with consequential savings of costly oil imports.

He said that there was no threat to Nowshehra city as it was 150 feet above the water level, asserting that Kalabagh Dam was not only beneficial to Punjab alone but more helpful in erasing poverty from Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtun Khawa.

The dam would irrigate 800,000 acres of land that was located 100-150 feet above the Indus River level in the province. He said this land could only be brought under cultivation if the river level was raised that was only possible if Kalabagh Dam was built.

He said the other alternative was to pump the water which was very costly. Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid and Vice President Zeshan Khalil said that creditable studies indicated that pumping water for potential cultivable land would cost farmers Rs 5,000 per acre per year while canal water after construction of Kalabagh Dam would cost only Rs 400 per acre per year.

They said that additional water would also be available for Sindh in all seasons. They said that all the stakeholders should show some greater maturity on the issue of Kalabagh. It was high time that all undue stands should be brushed aside to save the country from that era of darkness. He cited that unlike Pakistan, India was constructing dams at every possible site.