Students to hold demos against Kalabagh dam

By Our Correspondent

PESHAWAR, Dec 26: The Pakhtunkhwa Students Organisation (PSO) will hold countrywide demonstrations against the construction of Kalabagh dam. PSO’s central secretary general Hameed Ali Shah made this announcement at a press conference here on Monday.

He said that students would also participate in the December 29 rally arranged by the Awami National Party.

He claimed that dozens of alternatives to Kalabagh were available but they were not being examined because “they were not likely to bring water of the Abbasin (Indus river) under the direct control of the Punjab”, he said, adding that Kalabagh dam was not meant to be a reservoir but a project to control the flow of the Indus.

Fayaz Bacha, an office bearer of the PSO, said 1971-like situation was being created wilfully to divert attention of the masses from issues like military operations in different parts of the country.

He said that the president need not take pains of elaborating pros and cons of the controversial project because people of the NWFP and Sindh knew what was beneficial for them.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat33.htm

Reservoirs in national interest: Pervaiz

By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Dec 26: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi says construction of big water reservoirs is in the best national interest and not any single province.

Talking to reporters after opening a new hostel at the Lahore Gymkhana on Monday, the chief minister said reservations of political elements of other provinces regarding construction of reservoirs were being removed.

He said Punjab had always given priority to national prestige in every matter, and never thought in regional terms. The fact that it helped politicians from other provinces to lay claim to the office of prime minister was sufficient to prove the assertion, he said.

However, he regretted that the politicians who declared their parties national were talking in regional terms in various provinces.

He recalled that such situation had been created by certain elements when work on Mangla and Tarbela dams was executed, but the projects were now meeting irrigation and power needs of the country.

He said if new dams were not constructed, lands of Punjab, Sindh and other areas would be rendered as barren.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat12.htm

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President has own interest in dam issue, says Tarar

By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Dec 26: Former president Rafiq Tarar alleged that Gen Musharraf has raised Kalabagh dam issue to prolong his “illegal” stay in presidency. He was speaking at a ceremony organized by PML-N MPA Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor at Raiwind here on Monday.

Party’s central Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Finance Secretary MNA Pervaiz Malick, Zaeem Qadri, Saad Rafiq and others also spoke.

Tarar said there were many issues of public welfare which were more important than the dam and needed to be addressed on priority basis. He added stress should not be laid on the project which did not enjoy consensus of all provinces.

He said present national scenario demanded restoration of democracy in real terms.

Mr Jhagra said his party did not accept Gen Musharraf as constitutional head of state while democracy and the parliament also did not exist in the country.
Malick said politicians were responsible for running political affairs of the country and not the army generals. He termed the dam lifeline of the country but said the project could not be executed by Gen Musharraf for “people do not trust him.”

Qadri said the party would demonstrate outside the Lahore Press Club on Wednesday (Dec 28) against army operation in Balochistan.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat11.htm

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TI asks Musharraf to invite Pagara for KBD opening

By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Dec 26: The Tehrik-i-Istaqlal, one of the staunch supporters of the Kalabagh dam, has suggested President Gen Musharraf to invite PML (Functional) chief Pir Pagaro for laying the foundation-stone of the reservoir.

In a communique to Gen Musharraf, party president Rehmat Khan Wardag hoped the Pir would accept the offer and it would be a great step for quelling opposition to the project in Sindh.

He also urged the army ruler to invite Mir Zafarullah Jamali for a one-on-one meeting to seek the former prime minister’s formal support for the water reservoir.

He believed that Balochs could be convinced to give up opposition by offering their province two or three per cent more share in the Indus waters.

Referring to an anti-dam rally in Karachi last week, he alleged that most of the participants were the poor “hired” for the event who had no affiliations with any political party. (one rule: dont make statements you have no prrof of. That just makes the game more dirty)

He proposed announcement of construction of four small dams while laying foundation-stone of the Kalabagh.

The suitable sites for these proposed reservoirs, according to him, are Munda on the Swat river, and Rahim Yar Khan, Khairpur Meerus and Sehwan Sharif on the Indus.

Khan favoured building of left canal from the Kalabagh dam to irrigate thousands of acres in Dera Ismail Khan, Tonk, Lakki Marwat, Bannu and Kark, the most backward area of the NWFP whose people migrate to other provinces for earning their livelihood.

About the proposed constitutional and legal guarantees for the dam, he said it was a time-consuming process which could be undertaken even after work on Kalabagh was started. (sure sure, get everyone fu*ked up first, then think of the legalities. Typical Pakistani politician)

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat10.htm

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Govt advised to take up Bhasha dam

By Our Correspondent

SWABI, Dec 26: The government should focus on the construction of non-controversial Bhasha dam instead of the controversial Kalabagh dam and take steps which create unity among the people of four provinces. This was stated by leaders of political parties opposed to the construction of Kalabagh dam on Monday.

Former MNA and district president of Awami National Party Rehmanullah said that his party had already made it clear that the construction of Kalabagh was against the interest of three provinces and Balochistan, Sindh and the NWFP Assemblies had already passed anti-Kalabagh resolutions. The ANP’s parliamentary leaders would tender resignations if the government stuck to its guns and went ahead with the project, said Rehmanullah whose son is also an MPA.

He said his party wanted progress and prosperity of the country but not at the cost of the people. “The ANP has prepared a plan for holding anti-Kalabagh rally on Dec 29,” he added.

ANP leader and former district nazim Jehanzeb Khan said that previous governments had also made noises about building the Kalabagh dam but their efforts met with failure. A provincial leader of Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Arshad Ali advocate said that all the communities in Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP would suffer harm by the Kalabagh dam which would only benefit the people of Punjab.

“This project would bring together the people and leaders of various political parties on one platform and they would oppose its construction tooth and nail.”

Former provincial information secretary of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Asad Qaisar said it seemed that the government wanted to use the Punjab card while influencing the mind of the people of Punjab and preparing the ground for the next general election.

He said it was a political game and the government had a future plan for strengthening its hold on power.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat9.htm

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Media told to play role on dams issue

RAWALPINDI, Dec 26: Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Monday that President General Pervez Musharraf had directed the media to play an active role in creating public awareness about constructing Kalabagh dam and other water reservoirs.

Sheikh Rashid told newsmen here that Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and other officials attended an important meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf about establishment of Kalabagh dam and various reservoirs in the country.

The meeting lasted for more than three hours and important issues were thoroughly discussed in the meeting.

The information minister said the president had stressed the need for the media to be active and play its role in creating public awareness regarding construction of Kalabagh dam and other water reservoirs in the country.

He said that President Musharraf would soon visit Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas and NWFP and announce the construction of Kalabagh dam very soon.

He said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said from time to time that the government would not take any unilateral decision on the construction of big water reservoirs in the country and would certainly take the provinces into confidence first.
Sheikh Rashid said it was fortunate that there were no problems in provision of funds for development from either the federal government or provincial governments.

He said in the presence of Provincial Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja, Rahat Qadoosi, Nasir Raja and MPA Fayaz Chauhan and other high-ups that development projects would be completed —Online

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat4.htm

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Demand to shelve Kalabagh project

Dawn Report

DADU, Dec 26: A large number of people took out a procession and held a demonstration in Khairpur Nathan Shah on Monday in protest against the proposed construction of the Kalabagh dam.

The protesters included activists of different political parties and social workers. They were led by taluka People’s Party Parliamentarians president Noor Mohammad Chandio, district Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam president Hafiz Hajan and district Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan president Hafiz Amin.

The protesters demanded that President Gen Pervez Musharraf should shelve the Kalabagh dam project.

Later, they observed a token hunger strike.

NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Workers of different political parties on Sunday marched from the Moro town to the Moro-Dadu bridge on the River Indus to protest against the Kalabagh dam.

Around 400 activists of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, Jeay Sindh Mahaz, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Sindh National Party, Awami Tehrik, Sindhi Adabi Sangat and the Labour Party of Pakistan participated in the protest.

The procession was led by Sindh LPP general secretary Younus Rahu, Hashim Khoso, poet Rashid Morai, Ali Bux Kalhoro, Agha Hassan, Khan Soomro, Ashraf Bhat, Razzaq Mastoi, Badal Zardari and Talib Rahu.

They said the Kalabagh dam was dangerous for Sindh and its people because they would be deprived of their livelihood after its construction. They warned that people of Sindh would not forgive supporters of the Kalabagh dam.

The PPP-SB also took out a procession in Kandiaro on Sunday against the dam project.

The protesters, led by district party president Zafar Khoso, after marching through different roads reached the Star Chowk where they staged a sit-in for one hour.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat3.htm

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Fudged data being given to president, say experts: Kalabagh dam

By Our Reporter

ISLAMABAD, Dec 26: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is providing fudged data to President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Kalabagh dam, that is technically, economically and politically unfeasible and poses a threat to the federation.

This was the near consensus of a seminar on “Kalabagh Dam: forcing or forging consensus” organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute here on Monday.

Engineer Imtiaz Ali Qazalbash said the dam would cost more than Rs800 billion despite the fact that it had a short life span of 20 to 30 years. He said there were many technical problems in the project, which would displace over 200,000 people in Punjab, NWFP and Sindh.

He said the government was hell-bent on the construction of the Kalabagh dam to the extent that it gave the impression as if there existed only one project. He said the people were being provided wrong information by the government that the dam would cost $6 to $7 billion.

He said the country had many other options for construction of major water reservoirs including Basha, Dasu and Bunji dams, etc.

He said Basha dam was the best option keeping in view its relatively longer life span and less economic cost.

He said according to the Wapda Vision 2025, the country needed water reservoirs but it did not mean that the solution was only Kalabagh dam. He said Wapda and the policy-makers should be a little bit innovative and explore some other options. He said since 1976 the country could not come up with major water reservoirs mainly due to sticking to the Kalabagh dam unnecessarily. He said the government should first construct less controversial dams.

Since 1977, he said, Wapda had ceased to play its role owing to which there was no balance in the thermal and hydro power generation.

Engineer Asif Ali Khan, member of the Pakistan Engineering Counsel, said Pakistan Muslim League was lobbying for a dam which was technically and economically not correct. He said Wapda was feeding fudged statistics to Gen Pervez Musharraf about the social, economic and technically repercussions of Kalabagh dam.

Citing reports of the World Bank and some other independent international consultants, Mr Khan said it would have not been a matter of great concern had the government tried to forge a consensus on the dam in case of some political hindrances. The dangerous thing is that besides technical and economic constraints the government is forcing a consensus.

He said Mardan and Nowshera would be flooded and the Peshawar valley would face water logging and siltation. He said the government was ignoring the public outcry about the project not only in NWFP but in other two provinces, which could create a 197-like scenario in the country.

He said the history of rehabilitation of people displaced due construction of dams and water canals in Pakistan showed that the government had failed to properly compensate and rehabilitate the affected people.

Besides, he said, after the refusal of the federal government to pay to the NWFP billions of rupees outstanding in the forms of electricity charges and usurping of other rights of the provinces the people were convinced that the Constitution was not everything in Pakistan.

He said the 1985 feasibility report on the Kalabagh dam had taken into account an earthquake of less than 4 on the Richter scale. (if thats the case, shelve the Dam NOW! Where is a new team of independent technical experts doing their reporting for all of us??)

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/nat1.htm

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Consensus must for Kalabagh: Shahbaz

By Arshad Sharif

London, Dec 26: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif on Monday emphasized the need for political consensus about the Kalabagh dam issue and said it could not be sustainable if it threatened the federation’s unity.

Talking to Dawn, the former Punjab chief minister said: “Without consensus, how can one think of going ahead with a controversial project?”

The PML-N president said Pakistan was a federation and all the four federating units had to be taken on board on the Kalabagh Dam issue.

Mr Shahbaz Sharif said he was convinced of Kalabagh dam’s feasibility. However, he said, during the past 25-30 years, the issue had been politicized to an extent that facts were buried.

“I am speaking as a Pakistani and not as a Punjabi. The Kalabagh dam is not an issue for Punjab alone, but for the entire Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Sharif said feasibilities of the Kalabagh dam would be of no use if they were not politically acceptable to the other federating units. If the federation’s unity was threatened, the rulers must find the solution through dialogue, he said.

In response to a question about the exact arrival date of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in London, the PML-N president said: “He would be here soon.”

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/top4.htm

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Schedule on dams soon, says Musharraf: Guarantees on water outlets pledged

By Our Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD, Dec 26: Sindh’s ruling party leadership on Monday advised President Gen Pervez Musharraf to rearrange priorities on the government’s dam construction plan by taking up Bhasha dam first and “a canal-less” Kalabagh dam later. (this actually might be a good way to go)

This advice was given at a meeting presided over by the president on water management.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf told participants that a schedule to construct three dams - Kalabagh, Bhasha and Akhori - by 2020 would be announced very shortly, for which priority had to be set now, to complete at least one dam by 2016, a participant of the meeting told Dawn.

On Monday, President Musharraf chaired two separate meetings on Water Management Vision in his Rawalpindi camp office. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML President Ch. Shujaat Hussain, Mushahid Hussain Syed, ministers for information, water and power, narcotics control, interior, local government, chief ministers of Sindh and Punjab, attorney general of Pakistan, special assistant to prime minister on youth affairs and Sindh minister for irrigation also attended.

In another meeting, Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Rahim, Water and Power Minister Liaquat Jatoi, Narcotics Control Minister Ghaus Bakhsh Mehr, Local Government Minister Abdul Razak Taheem and Sindh Irrigation Minister Nadir Kamal Leghari participated.

Sources said the president told participants that he was ready to provide “any constitutional and legal guarantee” and subsequently inquired about the kind of guarantee they required.

The Sindhi leadership recommended that no future dam or major irrigation project, including Bhasha or Kalabagh, should be taken in hand which contained any canal outlet. For this, they demanded a constitutional amendment through a two-thirds majority in the centre and a consensus legislation in Sindh Assembly that whenever Kalabagh dam is constructed, it would be without canals and such a design would be protected for all times to come.

A participant said Sindh representatives reiterated their demand to give up Kalabagh dam’s priority and take up Bhasha dam’s construction first and then move on to Kalabagh dam but without any canals and with a constitutional guarantee that its design would never be changed.

Informed sources said that PML secretary general Mushahid Hussain and the PM’s advisor on youth affairs, Mohammad Ali Durrani, also said that if consensus could not be achieved on Kalabagh dam, then priority should be given to Bhasha dam. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao also supported construction of Bhasha dam on first priority.

Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi, however, demanded that Kalabagh dam be constructed along with its necessary canals without delay.

The president assured participants that he would remove their reservations on construction of dams and National Finance Commission and he would visit NWFP and Balochistan in addition to revisiting Sindh again.

The crux of the position taken by Sindh ministers, according to a participant, is that they are not opposed to the construction of water reservoirs but construction of Bhasha dam before Kalabagh would ensure sufficient water supplies to Sindh and subsequently development of Kalabagh dam would become easier.

He said the Sindh chief minister and federal ministers from Sindh also opposed moves to refer the issue of construction of water reservoirs to the Supreme Court.

An official statement said the president shared his impressions on his recently concluded visits to Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi and said it helped to create awareness on the need for additional water reservoirs and clear perceptions.

The prime minister told the meeting that a report of the technical committee on water and recommendations of an international panel of experts on water escapages downstream Kotri would be released to the general public in the near future while the parliamentary committee’s report would be placed before the Senate.

He said a team of technical experts would brief provincial cabinets, coalition partners as well as opposition parties on the government’s water management strategy.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/27/top1.htm

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