June 25, 2015
News
PEW calls for Kalabagh dam construction
INP
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) President Dr Murtaza Mughal said on Wednesday that the government should revisit plans to revive old dams in favour of constructing new dams, with special focus on the Kalabagh dam (KBD).
He said the KBD is the most viable and most politicised projects in the history of Pakistan, adding that it would cost less and last longer than any other dam in the country.
He said the local and international experts have linked the survival of Pakistan to KBD and opined that the desilting of Tarbela reservoir is not an economically viable option.
“Tarbela has already lost 30% capacity to silting over the years but experts say that instead of undertaking massive desilting exercise, it would be more economical to build a new dam,” he added.
Dr Mughal said that the Tarbela dam has an estimated lifespan of 50 years; it would complete its designed life by 2029 while KBD has an estimated life of 450 years.
“Pakistan’s per capita water availability had already gone below 975 cubic metres from 5,100 cubic meters in 1960, which is a great threat to industry, agriculture and masses,” he added.
The PEW president said the World Bank had asked Pakistan to build a dam of the size of Tarbela at least after every decade but successive failures of the governments to make a single dam despite resources indicate lack of interest in securing the country’s future.
He said dams are built around the world to overcome water shortages and not to create problems. “The Mangla Dam brought green revolution, the Tarbela dam increased water supply to the canal network by 25% while Sindh would get an additional seven million acre feet of water from Kalabagh,” he added.
Dr Mughal said KBD is neither a technical nor a political issue, rather it is a humanitarian matter related to national survival which is being delayed by some politicians and so called experts to damage the federation on the orders of the enemies of Pakistan.
He said that the intensity of recent load shedding during hot weather in Karachi could have been decreased if the KBD was there to provide 3600MW of electricity to the national grid.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk