[B]Check the two reports on water resources at
[url]http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/[/url]
One is by a panel of International experts and other is by the technical committee on water resources.
Gives a good idea of how our water resources are distributed.[/B]

[B]Cabinet revives CCI: Govt to go ahead with construction of dams[/B]

By Ahmed Hassan

ISLAMABAD, Dec 31: In an apparent shift from its earlier position of soliciting a national consensus on the construction of Kalabagh dam and other water reservoirs, the federal cabinet on Saturday decided to go ahead with the plan even on achieving ‘sheer understanding’.

The government has also decided to revive and reconstitute the Council of Common Interests (CCI) immediately. Saturday’s special cabinet session was chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the CCI’s revival after an eight-year lapse was “a constitutional requirement” and disclosed that it would discuss all national issues, including water reservoirs.

Following a six-hour briefing by Wapda officials on Kalabagh, Basha, Munda and Akori dams, Mr Ahmed said the cabinet decided to go ahead with the construction of water reservoirs even on the basis of “sheer understanding”. However, Mr Ahmed said, the government would continue its efforts to achieve a consensus among stakeholders.

The minister said cabinet members had expressed satisfaction over their year-long performance and the prime minister had lauded them for their good work.

Sources said some ministers had spoken out against the adverse effects of big dams on Sindh and NWFP provinces following the briefing but the officials concerned tried to ease their fears.

Despite an earlier announcement, none of the four chief ministers attended the cabinet meeting. When asked about their absence from the cabinet meeting, the information minister said: “They were not supposed to attend the federal cabinet meeting”.

The cabinet assured anti-Kalabagh dam supporters that their fears and reservations would be effectively and promptly addressed and they would be given administrative or constitutional guarantees, the minister said.

He refused to give any tentative date for the announcement of Kalabagh dam’s construction but said that the president, cabinet and parliament were thinking in unison on the question of water reservoirs.

The cabinet is unanimous in its support for new water reservoirs for the sake of economic development, farming and electricity. It has directed Wapda to arrange similar briefings for provincial governments and officials.

In reply to a question about the fears of dam affectees in the NWFP, the minister said the issue had been addressed by the dam plan and it has been decided to settle the displaced people in model colonies to be constructed within five kilometres of their present abodes.

The minister said cabinet members were allowed to speak about their reservations in the meeting and a number of them talked about guarantees to the provinces opposed to the dam.

In reply to a query about the opposition’s boycott of the government’s briefing on water reservoirs, he said the prime minister had offered to include experts from the opposition to be associated with the briefing and express their point of view.

In order to give opinion makers a better understanding of the dams issue, the minister said, water reports had been published for the general public and briefings had been arranged.

He claimed that none of the three reports made public so far had given a thumbs down to new water reservoirs and that all members of A.G.N. Abbasi’s committee had actually favoured Kalabagh dam’s construction.

He said that a decision had not been taken yet on providing canals from KBD as Sindh had opposed the plan. He said the total estimated cost of 4 dams was not worked out but the estimated cost of KBD was $6.1 billion as indicated in September this year.

Mr Ahmed emphatically told a questioner that there was no military operation going on in Balochistan and whatever action was being taken was against those who target government installations and functionaries.

Speaking to the cabinet, Mr Aziz said that there was no denying the fact that the country was in dire need of more water reservoirs and that time for a decision had come. At present, he said, Pakistan had only 9 per cent of available water storage capacity and it had to build at least 40 per cent storage for the future.

[url]http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/01/top1.htm[/url]

[B]Demand to abandon Kalabagh project[/B]

Dawn Report

SUKKUR, Dec 31: [B]Hundreds of activists of the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party took out a procession and staged a sit-in on the Rohri bypass near Kandhra for two hours on Saturday against the Kalabagh dam and the army operation in Balochistan.[/B]

The protesters, carrying placards and banners, were led by Nazir Soomro, Waheed Khoso, Zahid Shaikh and Narain Das. They marched through main streets of the town while chanting slogans against the dam and the Balochistan operation.

Speaking on the occasion, leaders of the protesters said the Kalabagh project was a conspiracy against Sindh. They said the people of Sindh would not allow construction of the dam.

They regretted that despite strong opposition from the three provinces, President Gen Pervez Musharraf was insisting on its construction to please Punjab.

Condemning the operation in Balochistan, they said it would spark hatred among Baloch people which would be dangerous for the integrity and solidarity of the country.

They demanded that the government should shelve the Kalabagh project and stop the operation in Balochistan forthwith.

DADU: Around 100 activists of the Pakistan People’s Party-SB held a demonstration for one hour outside the press club here on Saturday to protest against the proposed construction of the Kalabagh dam.

They were led by district party president Ali Mohammad Jamali, Ali Khan Soomro, Bashir Solangi and Fida Hussain Sakhirani.

WATER SHORTAGE: A large number of growers of the Dadu taluka held a protest demonstration outside the press club here on Saturday against the acute shortage of water in Malkani Phaka Daim waterways, originating from the Dadu Canal.

Led by Ali Nawaz Rind, Khadim Hussain Bhatti, Mumtaz Ali and Naveed Mallah, they alleged that irrigation officials were selling water to influential farmers.

They demanded that they should be provided their share of water.

[url]http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/01/nat18.htm[/url]

[B]Dam opponents baton-charged[/B]

By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Dec 31: [B]Police baton charged participants in a rally held by progressive parties to protest against the construction of the Kalabagh dam here on Saturday.[/B]

The police misbehaved with women protesters but they failed to check their way.

The demonstrators were led by Abid Hasan Minto, Farooq Tariq, Wazir Sahu and Mukhtar of the National Workers Party, the Labour Party, the Mazdoor Kissan Party and the Pakistan Mazdoor Mahaz respectively.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s I.A. Rahman, Pakistan Communist Party’s Jameel Ahmad Malik and Pakistan Social Forum’s Irfan Mufti were also present.

After taking a round of the Lahore Press Club, they held a public meeting and condemned the government for its double standards. They said the government had allowed a pro-Kalabagh rally on The Mall but it prohibited the opponents from venting out their emotions at a comparatively less crowded area.

[B]Minto said Punjab was being defamed by raising the Kalabagh dam issue which, he feared, would do no good to national politics. He said the army government on the one hand talked about moulding public opinion while on the other it announced that the decision to build the dam had been taken.

Tariq denied the impression that Punjab was in favour of the dam and claimed that most of the political parties were against the project.[/B]

[url]http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/01/nat9.htm[/url]

[B]Time not ripe for KBD: JUI[/B]

SIALKOT, Dec 31: Although the country needs water reservoirs, the time selected for the announcement of building Kalabagh dam is not suitable as the country is faced with several other burning issues which are required to be addressed on priority.

This was stated by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) Amir and Senator Maulana Samiul Haq while talking to reporters at Daska on Saturday.

He said that some anti-state elements had made this issue as disputed adding that the government should take the nation into confidence before giving a final verdict on Kalabagh dam. — Correspondent

[url]http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/01/nat33.htm[/url]

[B]MQM to support ANP on Kalabagh issue[/B]

By Our Correspondent

PESHAWAR, Dec 31: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) will cooperate with the Awami National Party in its struggle against the proposed Kalabagh Dam.

A press release issued here on Saturday quoted MQM’s central convener Imran Farooq as telling ANP’s president Asfandyar Wali Khan by telephone from the party’s international secretariat in London.

Terming the ANP’s Jehangira rally against Kalabagh dam historic, he congratulated the ANP and said both the parties were against the project and it could not be constructed because it was being opposed by three provinces.

He said that his party would not, in any way, support the construction of the dam against the wishes of the people of three provinces.

Mr Imran Farooq expressed his dismay over military operation in Balochistan, the Press statement quoted him as telling Asfandiar Wali Khan on telephone.

The ANP’s central president thanked him on his remarks and expressed the hope that unity among all democratic forces could not only force the government on deferment of such issues, but could also bury such issues once and for all.

Mr Khan termed the government’s insistence on building Kalabagh dam illogical and said the military operation in Balochistan jeopardized the country’s solidarity.

[url]http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/01/nat48.htm[/url]

[B]Consensus reached on big dams’[/B]

PESHAWAR, Jan 1: There is a consensus over the construction of major water reservoirs and any decision in this regard will be in the larger national interest, says Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli. She was talking to reporters at a book-launching ceremony at the Khana-e-Farhang on Sunday.

The state minister said the government was making efforts for taking provinces into confidence over the construction of Kalabagh dam and President Gen Pervez Musharraf would soon visit the NWFP as part of this campaign.

She said parliament and provincial assemblies would also discuss the issue, adding provincial governments’ reservations would also be removed.

She said ministers belonging to NWFP have presented people’s concern about Kalabagh dam in the meeting of federal cabinet.—APP

[url]http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/02/nat13.htm[/url]

[B]Kalabagh dam not a threat to Swabi, Nowshera’[/B]

By Our Correspondent

SWABI, Jan 1: Kalabagh dam project posed no threat to farmlands of Swabi or Nowshera districts, says federal minister for power Amir Muqam. He said this while addressing several public meetings here on Sunday. He said the people raising public outcry against the crucial water project were not interested in the country’s development.

The government, he said, was determined to construct Kalabagh dam to meet the needs of the country’s rapidly increasing population.

He also met local people to mobilize public support for the dam in an area considered to be a stronghold of the Awami National Party. Khan Abdul Khan Ghaffar Khan had called district Swabi his second home. PML-Q leaders had been successful in attracting a large number of people on the occasion.

Dispelling reservations voiced by certain quarters against the vital water project, the federal minister said it posed no danger to farmlands in district Swabi, adding it also posed no threat to district Nowshera. Pakistan Army, he said, had camps in the district and the government would never do anything to jeopardize these camps. The government, he said, was sure there was no danger to the area.

Urging the people to reject calls for agitation, the minister said the district would get natural gas supply within a month. He said that the government would provide Rs50 million for the gas supply.

He said there would be no further delay in the supply of natural gas to the region as pipeline network had already been completed.

He said that either President Musharraf or Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would visit the district very soon and announce various development projects for the district.

[url]http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/02/nat33.htm[/url]

[B]Munda dam should follow KBD: Wapda [/B]

ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Construction of Kalabagh dam would necessitate immediate follow-up building of $1.1149 billion (Rs70 billion) Munda dam to save Nowshera from flooding. Therefore, work on Munda dam should be started before Bhasha dam.

This is crux of an in-camera presentation Secretary Water and Power Ashfaq Mahmood and Chairman Wapda Tariq Hameed made to senators, a ruling party senator divulged to Dawn.

Wapda claims that Kalabagh dam without left and right bank canals would have no utility in terms of cost-benefit ratio. This neutralizes Sindh’s conditional acceptance of a canal-less carry over Kalabagh dam.

According to the presentation, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the Water and Power Ministry and Wapda are of opinion that construction of Kalabagh dam should be taken up first, then that of Munda dam, then Bhasha dam and lastly Akhori dam.

Skardu-Katzarah dam, which has been termed by the technical committee on water resources as the best option for the country, is not a part of the government’s ten-year dam construction schedule. There is a big difference between estimates of Wapda and the TCWR in respect of availability of water in Skardu-Katzarah dam. The TCWR had put this figure at 35 million acre feet as compared to Wapda’s estimates of 27MAF.

The senators were told that estimated cost of Bhasha dam had gone up to $6.5 billion while that of Kalabagh dam stood at $6.1 billion. Another dam of seven million acre water storage capacity at Akhori in Punjab would cost another $4.4 billion and its construction should be taken up after Bhasha dam.

According to Wapda and the Water and Power Ministry schedule, construction of Kalabagh dam should start in 2006, of Bhasha dam in 2009 and then that of Akhori dam in 2015. Construction of Munda dam should be complete before Kalabagh dam so as to save Nowhsera from floods.

However, Bhasha dam has a clear edge over Kalabagh dam in terms of land to be submerged in its lake. Kalabagh dam would encompass a total of 110,200 acres of land while Bhasha dam would be spread over only 32,000 acres. Akhori dam is estimated to use 59,200 acres and even Skardu-Katzarah dam is expected to use 90,000 acres of land— much less than 110,200 acres of Kalabagh dam.

Again In terms of displacement of people, Bhasha dame has a big advantage over Kalabagh dam. Kalabagh dam would displace 120,000 people compared to 24,000 people to be displaced by Bhasha dam and 49,300 people by Akhori dam.

Skardu-Katzarah is expected to displace the highest number, 160,000 people, but its capacity would be more than the total capacity of all other dams. Its design-life is estimated at 1,000 years compared to less than 100 years each of every other proposed dam.

Regarding the NWFP’s apprehension that Kalabagh dam would flood Nowshera and Peshawar valley in case of unprecedented floods, the presentation said: “Munda dam on Swat river shall alleviate Nowshera flooding and back water of Kalabagh full reservoir only goes up to Akora Khattak”. It also says that installation of 4,800 tube wells in Sindh would address Sindh’s apprehension that its lands would go out of production due to control over river because it would affect only 7,000 acres of mangrove forest.

Wapda shows two different figures of 0.67 MAF and 0.76 MAF as estimated live-storage capacity of Munda dam and puts its power generation capacity at 740-mw.

According to a comparison, Kalabagh dam will have a water availability of 90 MAF and live-storage of 6.1 MAF. It will have power generation capacity of 3,600-MW and would have no logistic problem.

Bhasha dam would have water availability of 50 MAF and live-storage of 7.34 MAF and would produce 4,500-mw of electricity. Akhori dam is estimated to have 14 MAF of water availability, although its live-storage capacity would be 7 MAF. It would generate jsut 600-mw of electricity. Kalabagh dam would have no problem of power dispersal while power generated at Bhasha dame would be very difficult to disperse.

Wapda says seismic risk in Kalabagh and Akhori area is less than in Bhasha and Skardu-Katzarah areas.

Out of displacement of total 120,000 people, Kalabagh dam would force 78,000 people to move away in the Punjab and 42,000 people in the NWFP. It will affect 21,600 acres of barani land in the Punjab and 2,900 acres in the NWFP. Similarly, it will affect 2,900 acres of irrigated land in thePunjab and only 100 acres in the NWFP. In a nutshell, Kalabagh dam would affect 24,500 acres in the Punjab and 3,000 acres in the NWFP, bringing total of affected land to 27,500 acres.

Bhasha dam construction would require upgradation of 323-Km of Havelian-to-dam site road and relocation of 140-km of Sazin to Raikot bridge.

[url]http://dawn.com/2006/01/04/top3.htm[/url]

[B]Fatwa’ issued against dam construction [/B]

KHAIRPUR, Jan 8: Around 300 religious leaders from Khairpur and Sukkur districts, belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F), on Sunday issued a Fatwa against construction of the Kalabagh dam. The ulema, led by Maulana Abdul Qayoom Halejvi, gathered at Aisha Masjid in the Priyaloi town.

They considered construction of the dam in religious, political and social context for two to three hours.

They exchanged views about construction of the dam and later issued Fatwa.

Maulana Halejvi said that as per the Shariah, the River Indus and its waters were the property of Sindh.

He said the province had exclusive right over the Indus waters.

Therefore, he said, construction of the Kalabagh dam or any other dam on the river and taking water through such a dam was unlawful under Shariah.

[url]http://dawn.com/2006/01/09/nat32.htm[/url]