New major water reservoirs are imperative to ensure food security of Pakistan and in this connection necessary steps are required to immediately start the construction of new dams at appropriate sites without any further delay.
Chairing a meeting of the executive committee of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) president Shabbir Hussain Chawla told that a benchmark of 120 days water storage is necessary globally for any country but unfortunately we have storing capacity of only 30 days. He told that no new water reservoir has been built during last two to three decades whereas the sedimentation of silt has further reduced the storing capacity of existing reservoirs. Continuing, he said Pakistan is basically an agriculture country and its economy is entirely depended on availability of water.
He expressed concern that India has been constructing dams on rivers which were allocated for Pakistan under the Indus water treaty. He told that according to statistics, Pakistan will become water starved country by the year 2025 if new dams were not built to store the available water resources. In order to avoid famine and drought like situation, we must increase our water storage capacity on war footings. He told that it is very surprising that previous governments failed to give due importance to this issue of prime national importance. He said due to the non-availability of water and irrigation system vast tracks of land are lying barren in all provinces which could be reclaimed to generate much needed economy activities in addition to providing jobs to the millions of people.
He also criticized the politicians who are intentionally or unintentionally opposing the construction of new dams despite of the increasing shortage of water which has posed a serious threat to the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan. Chawla said the construction of dams by India should be an eye opener for us and all patriotic people should raise their voice to construct dams in order to meet the national demand. The executive committee of FCCI also unanimously adopted a unanimously resolution for immediate construction of new water reservoirs.
Shabbir Hussain Chawla said that government should also take measures for the conservation of available water resources by promoting a culture of prudent use of water. He said that people should clearly support the political parties that are in favour of the construction of dams. He announced that FCCI will launch a comprehensive camping to build new dams so that the solidarity, integrity and prosperity of Pakistan could be ensured.
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