This refers to the news report, ‘With census demand shot down, Qaim opposes new dams’ (March 25). The report quotes the Sindh chief minister as saying during the CCI meeting that there is not enough water in the system to build a third dam. Yet we are going ahead with the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam which will have no tributary rivers flowing into it. Water coming from melting glaciers will feed it, while the Kalabagh Dam will have five tributary rivers – Kabul, Chitral, Swat, Haro and Soan – flowing into it, in addition to the monsoon rains. It is strange to hear that there is not enough water to build it and we are quite happy to let all this water play havoc with southern Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan and then escape into the sea.
The chief minister also said that there was no mention of a dam in the 1991 Water Accord, but the accord clearly mentions equal share of 37 percent for both Punjab and Sindh in the future storages. What future storages could the accord be talking about? In fact, the very purpose of the Water Accord was to develop consensus on the Kalabagh Dam.
Engr Khurshid Anwer
Lahore