Cabinet to discuss water reports today

ISLAMABAD, Dec 30: The federal cabinet on Saturday will review reports of parliamentary, technical and Kotri downstream studies on construction of reservoirs.

The meeting, to be presided over by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, will discuss issues regarding a decision on construction of reservoirs. The report of parliamentary committee will be presented to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Mr Aziz will take the opinion of all the federal ministers and state ministers at the meeting regarding construction of reservoirs and later take President Gen Pervez Musharraf into confidence concerning decisions taken by the cabinet.—Online

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/top16.htm

NALC legislators oppose Skardu, Bhasha dams

By Our Correspondent

GILGIT, Dec 30: Public representatives have opposed Skardu or Bhasha dam plans as the construction will destroy the historical monuments and cultural heritage of the region. (When Egypt built the Aswan Dam, it moved an entire freaking mountain full of ancient monuments to a new location! If some heritage is gonna be threatened, they should start taking steps to relocate the heritage site instead of starting another controversy)

In a joint statement, Northern Areas Legislative Council (NALC) members Imran Nadeem, Haji Abdul Quddus and Hafiz Hafizur Rehman said that they would offer the strongest possible resistance in case people of the area were not taken into confidence over the construction of the proposed dams which were located in the territorial limits of the Northern Areas.

They said that construction of Bhasha dam would inundate the whole Chilas city of Diamer district, whereas the Skardu dam would wipe out the thickly populated city of Skardu and its cultural heritage and disturb the environmental and fragile ecosystem.

They said that the constitutional status of the Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) is yet to be determined and do not fall in the constitutional ambit of Pakistan. Therefore, they said, it should be settled before construction of dams in the region so that the issues royalty and compensation could be settled in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan’s article 161.

They deplored that the people of Northern Areas were never made part of the discussion on dams despite the fact that at least eight main rivers and hundreds of water streams directly contributed to the Indus river.

They said that the voice of the people of Northern Areas was seldom heard in the power corridors because the region had no representation in the National Assembly and Senate.

They said the proposed site of Bhasha dam was controversial as it fell in the jurisdiction of Diamer district of the Northern Areas but some vested interests wished to name it Bhasha just to claim royalty and compensation.

The legislators urged President Gen Pervez Musharraf to visit the Northern Areas and take people of the area into confidence on the construction of proposed Bhasha and Skardu dams.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/top6.htm

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3 provinces agree on Bhasha dam: Arbab

By Shafiq Ahmad

PESHAWAR, Dec 30: Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf has been empowered to take a decision about the National Finance Commission (NFC) award and not on the construction of Kalabagh Dam.

They had not given power to the president to take a unilateral decision on the Kalabagh Dam construction, he told journalists at the end of a one-day workshop organized by the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) here at a local hotel on Friday.

He said three provincial governments, excluding Punjab, were agreed on the construction of Bhasha Dam and Sindh wanted its construction first. “We have authorized Gen Pervez Musharraf to decide on the NFC award issue and not on the construction of Kalabagh Dam,” said Mr Rahim.

The people of Sindh had reservations on the planned emanation of canals from Kalabagh Dam. However, they were optimistic that the president would take all the people in confidence before the dams’ construction, he said

The Sindh government, he said, wanted that the president should implement the 1991 Water Accord and correct the telemetry system set up on canals.

The Sindh chief minister said he appreciated the broad vision of President Gen Musharraf about the construction of dams in the country to handle energy crisis in the country.

He said the president would visit the four provinces to know people’s views on the Kalabagh Dam issue. Gen Pervez Musharraf would take all the provincial governments into confidence before taking any important decision, he added.

He said there was water and power crisis in the country and the existing dams were silting up. “We favour the constructions of dams to fulfil the future energy needs,” Dr Ghulam Rahim said.

FOREIGN STUDENTS: Speaking on the occasion, NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani rejected a government plan for expelling foreign students of seminaries in Pakistan.

Flanked by Dr Ghulam Rahim, the NWFP chief minister told the newsmen that the foreign students studying in seminaries on valid visas should not be expelled from the country.

“If we do this, other countries can take the same action against our students studying in their colleges and countries,” Mr Durrani argued.

Earlier, at the launch of the CPLC, Mr Durrani said he had sanctioned maximum funds for the betterment of police, but the police would have to restore their image.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/top5.htm

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Chaos continues to reign in Senate

By Raja Asghar

ISLAMABAD, Dec 30: Scenes of pandemonium were once again witnessed in the Senate as members continued their fiery debate on Kalabagh dam on Friday.

The day’s proceedings were also marked by two token protest walkouts by opposition parties, one during the Kalabagh debate and an earlier one over a fresh offensive by security forces in Dera Bugti district of Balochistan province. (I guess they are being paid to walk out and not debate the issue in the assembly. Sure, they wanna walk out. Who cares about parliamentary procedure?)

On the third day of what has often been an acrimonious debate on “issues relating to the construction of large water dams in the country”, some ruling coalition members seemed unimpressed by the reports of the government’s hand-picked technical committee and a parliamentary committee preferring alternatives and still pressed on for the Kalabagh site in the Mianwali district of Punjab.

The Senate first plunged into an uproar of opposition protests as leader of the house Wasim Sajjad announced that the government would arrange a briefing for the house on Monday on the issue by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), which some opposition senators say is dominated by Punjabi officials.

To make this announcement, Mr Sajjad seized upon a proposal by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) parliamentary leader Maulana Gul Naseeb that the government start with the Bhasha dam in the Northern Areas and in the meanwhile take more technical advice about Kalabagh.

But in spite of endorsement from presiding officer Mohammad Akram of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), the move backfired as the opposition rejected the idea amid noisy protests, although Awami National Party (ANP) member Ilyas Ahmed Bilour said the opposition would welcome briefings by independent experts from all provinces but not by what he called “zar kharid” (slave) Wapda.

Though the opposition parties made it clear they will not attend a Wapda briefing, Mr Sajjad and PML’s chief whip Kamil Ali Agha said the briefing would be held in any case at 10pm on Monday in an apparent move to project the perceived merits of the Kalabagh site over others.

But some time later the opposition’s chants became shriller and members walked out of the house in protest when the chair gave the floor to Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam Khan, who is not a senator, to speak in the debate, in place of PML’s Mrs Tanvir Khalid from Karachi, who too protested against the switch of turns then and during a speech later in support of the Kalabagh dam.

Mr Malik made a well-prepared speech to a sparsely-attended house after the opposition walkout while Mr Akram, who was chairing the session in the absence of Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro, ignored repeated shouts from the MMA’s Mohammad Ismail Buledi, who had stayed on in the house, that the chamber lacked quorum.

The ruling coalition suffered another embarrassment earlier during the debate when Mohim Khan Baloch of the Balochistan National Party (Awami), which is a member of the ruling coalition, opposed the Kalabagh dam and called for the construction of Bhasha dam, on grounds that all provinces were unanimous in the support for it.

WALKOUT OVER BALOCHISTAN: Members of the opposition walked out of the house at the start of the day’s proceedings after Jamhoori Watan Party’s Amanullah Kanrani, speaking on a point of order, said the paramilitary Frontier Corps had mounted a fresh offensive in Dera Bugti earlier in the morning with mortar fire and bombing and complained of arrests of political activists in other districts as well.

When Mohim Khan Baloch of BNP-Awami said the Balochistan situation was explosive and constituted a violation of human rights, Wasim Sajjad wanted to know why the opposition hadn’t talked of human rights when three Punjabis travelling by a bus were shot dead in the province earlier in the week.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/top2.htm

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Musharraf asks people to reject agitation: ‘IMF approved KBD feasibility’

By Zahid Shakeel

MANDI BAHAUDDIN, Dec 30: President Pervez Musharraf on Friday urged people to reject calls for strikes and agitation and said a decision on water resources would be made in the best national interest.

“Ignore strike calls as we are sincere about serving the nation,” he said while addressing a large gathering of elected local government representatives at Mona Depot, some 38 kilometres from here.

President Musharraf said the IMF and other international financial institutions had approved Kalabagh project’s feasibility.

The visit, sources said, marked the launch of the president’s whirlwind tour of the country to augment the pace of development at the grass-root level. He announced that he planned to visit each district to personally supervise development projects.

“I do not fear anyone, especially politicians who have nothing to offer but agitation,” he said, adding: “Agitation cannot stop us from forging ahead on the path to prosperity.”

According to APP, President Musharraf said it was not just a matter of a single dam. “We have to build three dams by 2016, otherwise our farmlands will become barren.”

Stressing the importance of water for agricultural and industrial growth, he said adequate water availability would ensure irrigation of more land and make generation of inexpensive hydroelectric power possible.

Blaming previous regimes for ignoring the construction of new water storage facilities for three decades, he said during that time, other countries had gone ahead with comprehensive plans for conserving the natural resource.

Enumerating steps taken by the government as part of its Water Vision, the president said brick-lining of thousands of water channels across the country would help save water and bring more land under cultivation.

He said the government was pursuing far-reaching development plans that would bring about a visible improvement in the lives of people in key sectors, including health, education, agriculture and industry.

Citing efforts aimed at poverty alleviation, President Musharraf said country-wide provision of electricity and safe drinking water by the year 2007 would quicken the pace of development.

Referring to goals for improving the health sector, the president said activation of basic health units and rural health centres at the primary level, establishment of tehsil hospitals at secondary level and improvement in the quality of services and equipment at district hospitals would provide adequate medical care to the people.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/top1.htm

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PWC rejects dam without canal

By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Dec 30: The Punjab Water Council (PWC) on Friday refused to accept Kalabagh dam without a left bank canal. Speaking at a Press conference, PWC President Farhatullah Khan, flanked by Hamid Malhi, Rabia Sultan, Farooq Bajwa, Umer Sarfraz Cheema, demanded immediate construction of the dam.

The PWC office-bearers also accused the Punjab chief minister of taking a ‘weak stand’ on the issue.

“The dam without canals would be an irreparable loss to farmers,” said Rabia Sultan. Link canals in the irrigation system, she said, were meant for sharing water and, under the 1991 accord, every province had right to draw water from every canal.

She also dispelled the impression that the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Punjnad canals were floodwater channels .

“Various circles are targeting Punjab without any justification and levelling accusations like usurping others’ rights which is regrettable,” she said.

In the heat of the moment, she claimed, various circles had even become intellectually dishonest and distorting even simple and easily verifiable facts. “Punjab has always scarified for others and surrendered its water share when required,” she said. “In these circumstances, accusing it of usurping others’ rights hardly makes sense.”

Mr Hamid Malhi took the occasion to claim that Punjab’s water share should not be less than 51 per cent if availability remained below 114 million acre feet. But its share had been reduced sub stantially because of the 1991 water accord. “The accord has proven to be a trap (for the Punjab).”

Bitterly criticising the provincial leadership, Mr Malhi said “if they have to do politics here, they have to look after the interest of the province as well.”

The country, he added, had been witnessing acute water shortage due to silting up of the existing reservoirs. Despite the filling-up of Tarbela and Mangla, he said the country was facing 18 per cent water shortage during the current Rabi season.

Farooq Bajwa claimed that Punjab’s farmers were now getting 54maf only whereas they got 66.5maf in 1947. Sindh, he said, had no sole right on Indus water. “Punjab is an equal partner, if not more,” he asserted.

Water shortage, he said, had threatened the very existence of the country and not of a single federating unit. Bajwa said underground water table was dwindling with every passing day. Quoting an international study, he said the aquifer was depleting at a yearly rate of 15maf. “The country is heading towards disaster if it fails to shore up its storage capacity. It needs a series of big reservoirs.”

Umer Sarfraz Cheema was of the view that the Punjab government was fast losing popularity among farmers due to its inefficiency in the agriculture sector. He wanted the provincial government to provide free electricity to farmers as they had to foot heavy bills for pumping out water for irrigation.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/nat10.htm

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Announcement on reservoirs soon: Rashid

LAHORE, Dec 30: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Friday that an announcement regarding the construction of new water reservoirs in the country was expected to be made soon.

Speaking at a news conference, the minister said the matter of dams construction had reached a point of ‘now or never.’

He said four major dams — Kalabagh, Bhasha, Munda and Akhori — would be built to protect interests of poor peasants.

He said Kalabagh was the most feasible and profitable project. He said Bhasha was a glacier water reservoir while Kalabagh would be fed by monsoon rains.

The minister expressed the hope that apprehensions of Sindh leadership on the KBD would be removed and all coalition partners of the ruling party would be on board with the government at the time of its launch as the government would protect interests of all and give required guarantees.—APP

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/nat11.htm

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KBD to have over 100-year lifespan’

By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Dec 30: The Kalabagh dam will have a lifespan of more than 100 years, says a press release issued by the Water and Power Development Authority here on Friday.

The project has been studied extensively, and the experts have concluded the dam will be providing 4.4 million acre feet water even after 50 years of usage. It will provide 3.2maf water even after 100 years.

Cumulation of silt has been studied with the latest computer models and the results reviewed by the Chinese and international experts. These experts have concluded that the dam has more than 100 years of life.

Advancement in technologies has made it possible to introduce new technologies for increasing lifespan of the dam. Mid-level Sluicing is one such technology, which allows clearance of sediment deposited in the lake of the dam regularly, thus increasing the life of the dam, it claimed. (how about using mid-level sluicing on Tarbela or Mangla reservoirs that are already heavily silted up?)

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/nat12.htm

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GCCI supports Kalabagh dam

By Our Correspondent

GUJRANWALA, Dec 30: The local chamber of commerce and industry has supported the president’s stance on the Kalabagh dam. Participants in the meeting, held under the chair of GCCI president Akhlaq Ahmad Butt on Friday, stressed the need to implement suggestions of the parliamentary committee for water for simultaneously constructing Kalabagh and Bhasha dams.

They urged President Pervez Musharraf to initiate work on the construction of both dams immediately to avoid disaster and collapse of the national economy.

NOTICES: The Aroop Town nazim served show-cause notices on all employees for their absence from duty here on Friday.

Reports said Town Nazim Rao Ikram Ali Khan paid a surprise visit to his office and found all employees, except the office superintendent, absent.

The nazim expressed his dismay over the late coming of employees and issued them show-cause notices.

He also convened a meeting and warned employees to ensure their in time attendance at the office. Otherwise, he said, action would be taken against them under the efficiency and discipline rules of the Punjab government.

Mr Ikram Ali directed the anti-encroachment squad to remove all encroachments without any discrimination while sanitary workers should ensure the cleanliness.

CONVOCATION: The annual convocation of the Government Islamia College will be held on Saturday (today) at 11am in the college ground. Minister Imran Masood will be the chief guest.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/nat17.htm

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‘NWFP did not empower president on Kalabagh’

By Mohammed Riaz

PESHAWAR, Dec 30: The NWFP government has denied that it has empowered President Gen Pervez Musharraf in writing to make a decision about construction of water reservoirs in any part of the country.

Speaking on a point of order in the provincial assembly, Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai denied that Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani or any government spokesman had asked the president to decide about the construction of water reservoirs or dams on a particular place in the country.

He said the NWFP had empowered the president to make an acceptable decision on the National Finance Commission award.

He said the nation was in dire need of water reservoirs, but a consensus among the four federating units was essential before taking up such projects. The NWFP government, he said, would not be a party to any controversial decisions.

The minister said that a fruitless debate on the divisive issue was damaging national unity, which should be avoided at all cost.

Khalil Abbas Khan of the Awami National Party had earlier asked the provincial government to clarify its stand on President Musharraf’s statement in which he claimed he was enjoying confidence of the four provinces on the construction of the Kalabagh dam.

He demanded that the NWFP government explain who had empowered the president to make such a statement, and issue a rebuttal.

Endorsing the demand, ANP’s Mukhtar Ali Khan said this house had passed a unanimous resolution against the construction of Kalabagh dam, but the Centre was not paying any heed to the wishes of the provincial assembly.

Israrullah Khan Gandapur of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao) said Dera Ismail Khan should be provided irrigation water from the left canal so that its barren areas could be brought under cultivation.

Amanat Shah of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal proposed that the Bhasha dam should be constructed instead of the Kalabagh dam, which had been rejected by three provinces.

Nighat Orakzai of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), a staunch supporter of the Kalabagh dam, said the feasibility of Bhasha dam was not ready and it would take four more years to get it completed. She said only Kalabagh dam was the option available to the government and it should be executed.

Speaking on the issue, Minister for Local Government Sardar Mohammad Idrees said it was a technical issue and must be tackled in a technical way.

Initiating debate on the government’s measures to cope with the post-quake situation, Anwar Kamal Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) said it had been opposition’s demand that the Centre should take the province into confidence about foreign aid sought for the rehabilitation of the quake-hit people. “Who will pay the interest – the Centre or the province?” he queried.

Opposition leader Shahzada Gistasip drew the attention of the house to the absence of the chief minister and the minister concerned “during this important debate”.

He said while the provincial government had asked the Centre to constitute a high-powered committee to deal with the rehabilitation effort, it had not yet constituted such a parliamentary committee in the province.

He asked the government to stop its “double talk” and form a joint committee, which should supervise the rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the quake-ravaged districts of the province.

Shagufta Naz of the MMA criticised what she called the “double standards” of the rulers, saying that while Islamabad had organized a donors’ conference to collect funds for quake survivors, it was purchasing VIP planes out of the donations made.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/31/nat29.htm

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