Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the 10 dams being constructed bythe government will double the country’s storage capacity to irrigate moreland and help reduce the impact of climate change.
He was addressing an international symposium regarding hydropowerdevelopment in Islamabad on Monday.
The Prime Minister regretted the indifference of previous governments tothe construction of big water reservoirs. He pointed out that Chinaconstructed five thousand dams whilst Pakistan only built two major damsback in the 60s. He said had the hydropower potential of the country wastapped, the country today would not have been faced with the issue ofrising prices of electricity as well as inflation.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that his government whilstpursuing the forward looking approach decided to construct ten dams in adecade time. He said given increase in our population, we have to bringmore land under cultivation in areas such as D.I.Khan, Balochistan andThar, which can be done with the availability of water. He said Pakistancan become wheat and cotton exporting country by irrigating more land.
As regards the proposal of Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi forconstruction of Kalabagh Dam, the Prime Minister acknowledged that Pakistanrequires more water storage capacity and the very site of Kalabagh is veryappropriate for the dam.
He, however, said the people in Sindh have their reservations on thisproject and without convincing them, the work on this project cannot bestarted. He said being the federation, we have to take along all theprovinces.
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On the occasion, Prime Minister Imran Khan also commended the politicalacumen of PML (Q) leader Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain saying they have fulltrust in its allied party.
President of International Commission on Large Dams Michael Rogers termedthe construction of ten dams by Pakistan as an amazing and world classendeavor. This, he said, is the road to prosperity and better future ofPakistan.
Appreciating the capability of WAPDA to execute these projects, MichaelRogers specifically mentioned that Diamer Basha is a dam for generations.He assured to provide Pakistan with state of the art knowledge to supportthe construction of the dams.
Chairman WAPDA Muzammil Hussain, in his remarks, said the construction ofdams is aimed at food security and human security. He said work on the damsis being carried out with speed and accuracy.
