Debate on new dams dominates Senate
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—Senate on Thursday resumed debate on the issue relating to construction of large water reservoirs in the country. Taking part in the debate, Senator S.M. Zafar presented a formula under which a consensus could be developed for construction of a big dam. He suggested to give constitutional mandate to Water Accord of 1991 by taking it into the Council of Common Interest (CCI).
There should also be a provision that if anyone violates it, the matter could be taken to Supreme Court for final decision, he added. He proposed to make arrangement for convening of a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) for this purpose. S.M. Zafar said the treasury benches consider construction of Kalabagh dam as most essential and necessary for the country while opposition thinks that it could endanger the federation.
He opined this issue could be settled down in the light of 1973 Constitution which was approved unanimously and is symbol of national unity and consensus. Senator, Prof. Khurshid Ahmed said the construction of big water reservoir is a sensitive issue that should be settled wisely. He said there are some political and technical aspects of this issue which could not be bypassed, adding that three provinces have passed resolutions against it and therefore its construction should be postponed until a consensus is evolved.
He proposed to construct small and medium dams in place of going for a large water reservoir, saying this strategy would be more useful. Supporting the construction of Kalabagh dam, Senator Nighat Agha said it is ideally located at the juncture of four rivers and called for immediate construction of the dam.
All the preparations including its feasibility report have been completed, she added. Nighat Agha said water goes waste because of lack of water storage capacity, hence the country should start building dams, barrages to save the precious water.
Punjab province, she opined, would suffer most if Kalabagh dam is constructed. Senator Akbar Khawja said the current water requirement is more than the water availability and to overcome this shortfall the government is proposing construction of various dams. But, various political parties differ with the opinion of the government about the site of Kalabagh dam which it intends to construct first, he said.
Taking part in the debate, Senator Ch. Naeem Hussain Chatta said after the creation of Pakistan, fertile Punjab became part of Pakistan while barren went to India. But, the fertile Punjab is now facing shortage of irrigation water that could be met after constructing large water reservoirs in the country.
He said every government has recognized importance of water, hence we must go for construction of a big dam to save water from flowing to the sea unutilized. Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto have also been advocating the construction during their tenures but failed to take any decision, he added.
Naeem Chatta said the people of all provinces are not against the construction of Kalabagh dam adding, they need water and cheaper electricity for irrigation and industrial development. He

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