Indeed, there must not be any compromise on developing the left bank canal of the Kalabagh Dam.
LAHORE: There has been some talk in the Punjab Assembly on developing consensus on the Kalabagh Dam. Indeed, there must not be any compromise on developing the left bank canal of the Kalabagh Dam. Without this canal, Punjab cannot utilise its 37 per cent share as per the Water Accord of 1991.
Moreover, without this canal, north Punjab will not get any water from any future dam on the Indus, be it the Bhasha, Akhori or Skardu Dam. What will be the future of agriculture in Pakistan if the largest tract of cropland in the country is deprived of water from all future dams?
For this reason, north Punjab is not getting any water from the Tarbela Dam despite Punjab having a legitimate share in the stored water. While Sindh is taking a lion’s share of 70 per cent, it disputes the 20 per cent that south Punjab is taking through the CJ and TP link canals. Punjab cannot survive on the Mangla Dam alone, without water from the Indus; two-thirds of north Punjab will revert from irrigated to barani, with a 50 per cent loss in national food production.
It is only through the left bank canal at the Kalabagh Dam that our three rivers can be linked into one single river basin for transfer from surplus to deficient areas, so that one area is not flooded while another is facing drought.
Engr Khurshid Anwer
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2013.
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