Baig asked readers what were the issues with the dam that ‘make it such a pariah that even the mere mention of the name raises political and nationalist hackles? It is probably not the fact that the dam is capable of irrigating six to seven million acres of land. It surely can’t be the fact that the dam can irrigate about 800,000 acres of land that is at a higher altitude than the river Indus. And the fact that the dam will also help produce about 3800MW of cheap hydro power has got to be a huge selling point. But apparently it is not enough… I won’t even go into the flood control options that the dam will offer with its ability to store almost seven million acre feet of water,’ he added.
Describing Pakistan as a water-deficient country, which was at one time a water-sufficient country, Baig spoke of the irony that Pakistan either has floods or droughts. He said that all energy must be put behind speeding up the pace of work on this dam, as well as the Diamer Bhasha dam. Pakistan also needs to resolve its issues with India and move faster with the Neelum-Jhelum dam, the Business Editor said in his article. Furthermore, he says all relevant bodies that are related to the development and regulation of water resources in the country, such as the Water & Power Development Authority and the Indus River System Authority, need to be left to do their jobs without political interference.
Source: ‘Drowning without water: We can play politics… or we can build dams’, by Khurram Baig, Business Editor. Published in The Express Tribune, Pakistan. 3 December 2012.
