PESHAWAR: Former provincial minister Humayun Saifullah Khan has said the failure to construct water reservoirs has deprived Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of about 3MAF water from Indus River System and 3.329 MAF from other resources since the signing of 1991 Water Apportionment Accord. Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said that in the monetary terms, the province had been deprived of water amounting to Rs739.20 billion during the last 28 years.
Sharing his research on the controversial Kalabagh Dam, he said: “It is true that various federating units have their concerns about the proposed projects of high national importance such as Kalabagh Dam. Many concerns are quite genuine and experts from various backgrounds while keeping their neutrality endorse the genuineness of counter argument. For instance, the threats to ecosystem along with River Indus could not be ignored,” he added.
“The way forward is sitting together at experts’ level, having thorough deliberation on all issues of critical importance and finding the solution, incorporating it into plan and safeguarding the interest of people and communities from all four provinces,” he said.
He argued that building Kalabagh Dam has critical importance for the progress, prosperity and development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Humayun Saifullah pointed out that the construction of the dam may ensure about 3 MAF water to KP through its gravity built Right Bank Canal, which is almost half of its share of 6.329 MAF.
“It could not only overcome existing water scarcity in the province but also bring a green revolution in its agriculture sector by irrigating almost 3 million acres of barren land in Dera Ismail Khan division,” he maintained.
He said that not only KP would benefit from the Kalabagh Dam reservoir, but all the provinces would get their share of water under the Water Apportionment Agreement 1991. “The water availability as per this agreement for canal withdrawal would reach 114.35 MAF with the construction of Kalabagh Dam,” he explained.
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