Bhasha dam be built first, says House body: Punjab seeks simultaneous work on Kalabagh; report placed in Senate
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 29:
The Parliamentary Committee on Water Resources (PCWR) has voiced unanimous support for Bhasha dam’s immediate construction even as its members from Punjab proposed that Kalabagh dam be simultaneously constructed with it.
The committee’s interim report, which was presented on the floor of the Senate on Thursday by Senator Nisar Memon, called for an “executive decision” on the issue of constructing large dams “based on various efforts towards (developing) consensus or a decision in the National Security Council (NSC) or the Council of Common Interests (CCI)”.
“All members agreed to Bhasha dam and its immediate construction but members from Punjab wanted it to be constructed simultaneously with Kalabagh (dam),” says the PCWR report.
The report notes that while committee members from the NWFP and Sindh had opposed Kalabagh dam, representatives from Balochistan backed its construction on the condition that consensus was reached among all the provinces.
The report recommends that all decisions (on water-related issues) be implemented with consensus. “Wherever consensus is achieved, it should be immediately implemented to create an environment of confidence and move forward for consensus on bigger issues,” it says.
“If despite all efforts, consensus is not arrived at, the government after required debate in the parliament and national media may take executive decisions or refer the matter to the NSC or the CCI for a final decision in the best interest of the country keeping in view the sensitivities involved and possible impact on national harmony,” it adds.
According to the report, major gaps exist between the provinces on water availability and large dam sites. It pointed to lack of consensus on the priority of dams and cited as proof the July 2004 meeting of the committee which was attended by all the four chief ministers.
The Sindh government’s position, as indicated in a March 2004 presentation to the PCWR, was that there was no water available for storage. But the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) insisted that 19.10 million acre feet (MAF) of water was available for future development.
The matter was taken up in the PCWR meeting and all the secretaries of provincial irrigation departments subscribed to the view that since availability of water for large storages was part of the technical committee’s terms of reference (ToRs) this technical subject should be left to it. Therefore, it was decided that no decision on water availability would be taken by the PCWR.
Still the PCWR succeeded in achieving consensus on a number of issues, some of which had remained unresolved for over 12 years. First, consensus reached between the provinces was on water studies. The provinces agreed to carry out studies on “minimal water escapages below Kotri to check sea water intrusion” and “water escapages downstream Kotri to address environmental concerns”.
Similarly, the provinces have also developed a consensus on conducting a “study on environmental concerns in all other areas of the country.”
According to the report, a consensus was also achieved in a meeting of the PCWR with chief ministers on “1991 Water Accord and Provincial Priority Projects”. There was an agreement among the chief ministers that large dams needed to be built in the country but with consensus.
All the provinces are unanimous in the view that the 1991 Water Accord is “sacrosanct and will be implemented in ‘toto’ without any reference to the 1994 Ministerial Decisions.” The chief ministers supported provincial priority projects and construction of small reservoirs in the provinces at a cost of Rs8.1 billion.
The PCWR has also recommended some “confidence building measures (CBMs) in order to “restore harmony and confidence between provinces”. The committee calls for “implementing the proposed 41 projects in Balochistan costing Rs56.5 billion to harness 6.54 MAF of flood run off to irrigate 1.32 million acres.”
It also stresses the need for easing the “apprehensions” of the people of the NWFP and Sindh on the Kalabagh dam project.
Moreover, the PCWR has recommended the construction of 20 small dams to provide drinking water in the water scarce areas of the NWFP, which will also irrigate some 79,250 acres of the province.
With respect to the CBMS for Sindh, the committee calls for “implementing the 1991 Water Accord, including 10-day statements vis-à-vis Greater Thal Canal, in letter and spirit.”
As far as Punjab is concerned, the report says, it is committed to the Kalabagh dam project.
The committee also points to the need for launching an awareness campaign on water issues through the media.
The PCWR was constituted by the National Assembly speaker through a notification on Oct 10, 2003, with Senator Nisar Memon from Sindh as its chairman. The committee’s members, all from the treasury benches, were Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli (NWFP), Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources Mir Naseer Mengal (Balochistan), Senator Syed Dilwar Abbas (Punjab), MNA Syed Abdul Qadir Jamaluddin Al-Gillani (Balochistan), Federal Minister for Industries and Production Jahangir Tareen (Punjab), MNA Mohammad Ali Malkani (Sindh) and MNA Sher Akbar Khan (NWFP).
http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/30/top1.htm