The making of a controversy

The desert district of Thar is in the grip of many problems, among which the interconnected issues of poverty and unemployment are the most potent. The sources of employment in the region have remained limited to traditional modes of earning a living. Long spells of drought and an ever-increasing population have added to the miseries of the people.

It has now become crystal clear that without generating economic activity and public-sector investment, Thar and its people cannot rid themselves of the shackles of poverty. These bottlenecks to investment will deny them a prosperous future.

For years, the people of the region and the rest of Sindh have been demanding that Thar’s black gold – coal – should be used for the benefit of the country, the province and the people. The biased policies of the federal government have discouraged foreign interest and investment in Thar’s coal reserves. When the Keti Bandar seaport and Thar coal projects were launched during Benazir Bhutto’s last tenure in 1996, they received considerable applause from all quarters as they fostered the hope of ending the long hours of power outages in the country.

But these projects became a victim of divisive politics after Nawaz Sharif, who came into power after Benazir, decided to scrap them because he needed a justification to construct the Kalabagh Dam. With its plans to end the power shortage in the country, the Thar coal project had left no justification for the Kalabagh Dam.

There are two sources of criticism that have turned the Thar coal project into a controversy. One strand comes from a section of local activists who have opposed the creation of the Gorano reservoir while the other has emerged from the proponents of alternative energy in Pakistan.

Those who have opposed the Gorano reservoir have a contradictory point of view and set of demands. Many of them believe that the project will have a negative impact on Thar’s ecosystem. At the same time, they have demanded compensation for lost land, a greater share for locals in the employment opportunities that are likely to open up and a higher percentage of income from the coal project for locals. Their demands are linked to activities that are taking place in Thar Block-II and are completely silent about Thar Block-IV where Dr Samar Mubarakmand has been working for years. No one is talking about the impact of the activities that are taking place in Thar Block-IV. But the fact that Thar Block-IV has failed to meet its deadlines for power generation ought to be questioned.

We must remember that the Gorano reservoir has not displaced human settlements as is the case with many other megaprojects such as the Mangla to Tarbela dams and the Lyari Expressway. The Gorano reservoir stretches across 1,500 acres of land, of which 500 acres were bought from private citizens who were compensated. On the remaining 1,000 acres, there are multiple claims that cannot be verified without registration papers. As a result, a case is pending in court over this share of the land.

We must also note that the Thar coal project is not a solely private venture. The Sindh government has a 54 percent stake in the initiative and has already invested over $500 millions on roads and other infrastructural projects. This has enabled an investment-conducive climate.

When investment and new opportunities do not benefit locals, it is only natural for them to voice their objections. But if one is to view the Thar coal project in terms of providing training and employment to locals, its contribution has remained unprecedented. It has initiated the single largest public-sector investment in the areas of education, healthcare, women’s empowerment and skills development at a cost of Rs4.5 billion.

Over 70 percent of employees are from the local workforce and among them 80 percent are women or members of minority communities. By the end of the year, there will be 5,000 children who will receive education in new schools that have been established under the Thar coal project.

Without education and the necessary skills, people will not be able to gain employment opportunities. The Thar coal project is offering employment opportunities and the vast public-sector investment into long-term infrastructural projects, such as roads, schools, hospitals and the energy sector, are likely to open the doors for more investment on remaining 11 blocks.

We must not forget that Pakistan’s dependence on imported oil for power generation bears a huge cost. If the power generation units opt for coal, it will save billions of dollars on the country’s import bills. By 2024, the Thar coal project alone is expected to produce 4,000 MW at a low cost that is cheaper than any other alternative source of energy.

What country has not used coal as source of power generation in its development phase? Germany, India, China and the US have all developed an industrial base on power generated through coal.

The consultants of private profit-seeking companies, who are working on alternative energy sources and are lecturing Pakistan’s people on the ‘Thar coal trap’, have failed to provide us with data on the percentage of alternative source-generated power in the energy mix. Not even the most developed countries like Europe and the US have been able to progress even partially on the alternative sources of energy. Pakistan’s ranking on the list of countries producing clean energy is far better than the position allotted to India and the US.

It would be wrong to assume that Sindh or the rest of the country is only relying on coal-based power generation. There has been solid investment on the ground for wind energy production units in Nooriabad and Gharo by private-sector companies. There has also been an increasing interest, investment and focus on solar energy.

The Thar coal project is not a trap. It is an economic opportunity that has remained the victim of a political prejudice towards Sindh. It is finally happening now. The dream of the Thar coal project is finally coming true, bringing opportunities of development and economic growth in its wake.

Email: mush.rajpar@gmail.com

Twitter: @MushRajpar