ISLAMABAD – Former Chairman Wapda, Engineer Shamsul Mulk said on Wednesdaythat construction of new hydel dams including Kalabagh dam was vital tocontrol massive loss of water during monsoon and meeting of growing energyand agricultural needs of the ever increasing population of the water’sstarved country.
Talking to state-media, Shamsul Mulk said the construction of new damsincluding Kalabagh and Diamir Bhasa was inevitable to overcome the acuteshortage of energy and water situation currently being faced by the country.
“Dams are necessary to feed increasing population, increase the areaunder-cultivation, boost agricultural and industrial output and save thecountry from becoming a desert,” he maintained.
He said construction of mega dams was imperative for speedy development andsustained economic and agriculture growth besides plays key role ingeneration of employment opportunities, alleviation of poverty and bringingdirect foreign investment in the country.
Mulk said the massive devastation’s caused by 2010 foods could easily beaverted by constructing new dams and water reservoirs in all potentialareas of the country, he said.
“Pakistan can face a major water crisis if we did not construct hydel damsincluding Kalabagh and Diamir Bhasha by 2025,” he added.
Terming Kalabagh dam as technically most feasible project, former ChairmanWapda said there was absolutely no harm to Khyber Pakthunkhwa from itsconstruction.
Kalabagh Dam was planned with an annual generation capacity of 12 billionunits of electricity, at cost of Rs1.2 per unit but due to incessant delaysin its construction, WAPDA fulfilled demand by generating electricity byusing expensive fuel, which costs the nation around Rs192 billion annually.
“The reservations being raised by some quarters regarding drowning ofNowshera, Charsaadda, Swabi, Mardan and Peshawar districts afterconstruction of Kalabagh dam were not based on facts and ground realities,”he shared.
He said China and India had built 22,000 and 4500 small, medium and bigdams respectively but Pakistan has comparatively constructed very lessnumber of dams despite having huge water’s potential stretched from Hamalyamountains to Karakuram and Hinduskash regions.
“Had Pakistan’s water potential was fully tapped in the past, the currentworst load-shedding and water crisis could have easily been averted,” hemaintained.
While regretting over not taking issue of construction of new damsseriously, former Chairman Wapda said it was unfortunate that not a singledam was constructed after Turbella dam by any government in the past, andresultantly the country was now at edge of water crisis.
The water level in ground will further drop in upcoming years, which wouldcreate a lot of problems for people seeking potable water for drinking andthis serious issue could be tackled only with construction of new waterreservoirs in the country.