*Lawmakers press government to build dams and reservoirs to prevent floods and produce energy
Daily Times
Zeeshan Ghayur
August 12, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Legislators in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday pressed the treasury to build reservoirs and dams to bridle floods and meet water scarcity.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Awais Leghari said, “The population in Balochistan is less because there is a widespread scarcity of water.” He said the government is failing to realise that the emerging water crisis is far more dangerous than the prevailing energy crisis.
Leghari said that the climate change has brought about widespread rain. He said this rainwater could be stored, filtered and supplied to the population. He said with more rains the underground water increases. He lamented that floods have increased as there were no dams or reservoirs to store water.
He said Koh-e-Suleman gathers at least 150,000 cusecs of rainwater. He said with reservoirs in place, water could be used for the country’s betterment. Leghari demanded that Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Power and Water Minister Khawaja Asif take up the issue. He said every lawmaker could provide details about the potential areas in his/her constituency where water reservoirs and small dams could be built.
Awami Muslim League (AML) lawmaker Sheikh Rasheed said, “Although Punjab promised that it will not have a share in the water of Kalabagh dam, the project has been in pending stage for long.” He predicted that soon the expensive land issues are going to arise for the construction of Bhasha dam. He said, “Neelum-Jhelum power project is being constructed on a land which receives the most earthquakes.”
Rasheed revealed that Dasu dam produces electricity but has no water storage capacity. He said the treasury claims that the foreign reserves are the highest. He said the reserves should be used for the construction of Munda dam. He demanded that the government allow private investors to build up to five megawatts (MW) of hydropower plants.
Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) lawmaker Mahmood Khan Achakzai said, “Although 110 million acre feet of water flows out of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the province is awarded as per the water accord a nominal 8.5 percent. The Pashtun are not happy with this discrimination.”
He demanded that the treasury build small dams at Khushal Garh. He claimed that thousands of megawatts of power could be generated. He suggested that hydropower plants at River Swat could produce at least 50,000MW.
He said, “Plenty of first world countries are willing to donate sums but the incumbent regime is neglecting the opportunity.” He said with such amount of energy, Pakistan could end up exporting electricity.
Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) lawmaker Aftab Sherpao said the Munda dam if constructed at Swat River could generate 750MW. He said the dam could also be used for storing a huge quantity of water. He said the dam would also protect the surrounding areas from flood.
He lamented that 2 million acre feet of water from KP goes into waste. He said Bhasha dam would be able to store 35 million acre feet of water.
Sheikh Rasheed said that the output from solar energy is merely 20-22 percent of total capacity. He said that the Bahawalpur Solar Park with the capacity of 100MW would produce not more than 22MW.
He claimed that valuable land in Karachi has been handed over to corrupt elements for the construction of wind power project. He said that Sahiwal coal power project is appreciable but restoring the rail link for the supply of coal would take a long time. He revealed that China invests overseas whenever it has a growth less than 8 percent. He said China is investing $34 billion for electricity supply at China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Questioning the viability of the independent power projects (IPPs), he deplored that Pakistan’s oil revenue is the lowest today.
