LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Tuesday stressed on early construction of dams as speedy economic growth was possible only through hydropower generation, an inexpensive source of electricity.
LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz, in a press statement, said power generation through thermal means was not affordable for businessmen.
He said Kalabagh dam should be constructed as it would not only produce cheaper and sufficient electricity but also help avert drought like Tharparkar in future. "Kalabagh dam is a must to control poverty and hunger. Approximately Rs. 132 billion can be saved annually by building this dam," he added.
He urged the government to form a team of experts from public and private sectors to convince all the provinces that the Kalabagh Dam was necessary for progress and prosperity of the country.
He said besides Punjab, the Kalabagh dam would be beneficial for Khyber Pakhtunkhawa by irrigating 800,000 acres of cultivable land that was located 100-150 feet above Indus river level.
Ijaz A Mumtaz said further delay in developing consensus among all stakeholders on the dam would cost coming generations.
He mentioned India was constructing dams at every possible site and she had left Pakistan decades behind.
He said everyone knew that existing dams were constantly silting up which was decreasing their capacity to store water.
The construction of Kalabagh dam along with other new dams was desperately needed to store adequate water, he added.
He said according to a conservative estimate about 30 million acre feet of water was being wasted into the sea because the country had no big water reservoirs to store it.
"More importantly, as a result of melting of glaciers due to global warming, a Sword of Damocles remains hanging over our heads in the shape of floods. An opinion gained widespread support across the country that the losses of recent floods in Pakistan which are estimated to be more than 45 billion dollars could have been reduced if big dams and water reservoirs were in place," he added.
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