LAHORE: The government has been urged to start working on forging consensus on Kalabagh dam as Pakistan is bearing losses of billions of rupees due to delay in construction of the dam.
This was stated by Institution of Engineers Pakistan Lahore Centre Chairman Engineer Dr Ahraf Sheikh in a statement. India has completed one hundred and seventy-one dams in occupied Kashmir, generating 28,000 megawatt of cheap electricity while Pakistani politicians cannot agree on one dam, he said.
Dr Ashraf Sheikh said that some elements opposing this project are dancing on the tune of India which is part of her policy to make Pakistan a desert through water aggression.
According to experts the attitude of some politicians and apathy of the government regarding KBD, water policy and water strategy amounts to suicide, he noted.
IEP Lahore Centre Chairman said that KBD will make 61 hundred thousand acre of land fertile which will improve food security and enable country to export agricultural items to earn foreign exchange.
The province of Sindh will get additional 2.2 million acre feet of water while 3,600 megawatt electricity will also be added into the system to provide relief to masses and energy-hungry industry.
Pakistan Economy Watch president Murtaza Mughal said that policy of ignoring hydel power has pushed country to rely on costly imported fuel which has broken the back of masses, agriculture and industry. No mega reservoirs have been constructed in the last 41 years wasting 145 million acre feet of water that passes every year through Pakistan, he added.
