The Punjab Water Council (PWC) strongly supported the Friends of Democratic Pakistan's (FoDP) suggestion to the Federal Government to construct Kalabagh dam on priority basis and contradicted Sindh Government's stance that KBD is a settled issue.
Commenting on the advice of FoDP water task force to GOP to consider KBD as a priority water sector project, Convenor PWC Faooque Bajwa said "it is a very sound, feasible and friendly advice in the best interest of the people of Pakistan and the four provinces."
It may be added that in its report the FoDP water task force has correctly pointed out that Pakistan is expected to build a new reservoir of the size of Tarbela dam after every 10 years to meet the challenge of water and increase the production of hydro-power. But for 50 years, a deadly combination of internal dissension and external prevarication precluded the building of large dams, the report added.
Bajwa pointed out that the people and the successive governments of Punjab with over 60 percent population of the country have never compromised or surrendered their demand for construction of the Kalabagh dam but wanted to carry the other three provinces along before start of the dam's construction work.
"The government of Pakistan has no choice but to construct the KBD to fulfil its international commitment under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty with India to supply water to south Punjab through alternate sources after surrendering three of its most productive rivers Ravi, Sutlej and Beas to India more than half a century ago," Bajwa emphasised.
He said Diamer Bhasha dam is neither feasible nor a substitute for KBD; KBD is a natural site for a big reservoir that can not only supply a regular, measured flow of water, round the year, for our starving agriculture as well as industrial sectors and domestic consumption, but also generate a big chunk of electric power nearly equal to the shortfall the country has been experiencing for the several years.
He said load shedding has caused enormous losses to the national economy as a whole, and the hydro-power station at Kalabagh would go a long way in eliminating them.
According to the water experts including former Chairman WAPDA Engineer Shams-ul-Mulk a dam at Kalabagh would be rare in the sense that it would virtually last forever and not get filled up, which is the fate of most dams, since it would be receiving silt-free, 'filtered' water.
And the benefits-storage of 7.6 million acre feet of water to be released on demand and power generation capacity of 3,600MW when fully developed-would continue to accrue endless benefits to all the provinces.