Murad wants control of dams on rotation basis for Sindh, Balochistan

Provincial government informed of an unexpected water shortage of 10% to 60% as dams go dry

KARACHI: Due to mismanagement and poor planning, the Tarbela and Mangla dams have gone dry, said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, demanding the administration of dams be given to the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan on a rotation basis.

He said this while addressing a press conference at CM House on Tuesday. He was flanked by provincial ministers Dr Sikandar Mandhro, Jam Khan Shoro, Jam Mehtab Dahar and Sohail Anwar Siyal.

The Indus River System Authority (Irsa), said Shah, informed the provincial government there would be a 10% to 60% shortage of water due to an alarming depletion of water stored at the Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs.



The CM said that at a time when there was plenty of water, it was being released into Link Canals instead of being stored in the dams.
This shortage will affect Sindh badly as early sowing always takes place here due to our weather conditions, said Shah.

Recalling last year, the chief minister said that there was also a shortage of water but even then the dams were filled with 61 million-acre feet of water. However, he said, this year there was plenty of water but they failed to fill the dams.

He said that the Sindh government kept warning the federal government about the expected shortage of water during the kharif season, urging them to take necessary measures but 'all our warnings and uproar fell flat on deaf ears', he deplored.



Shah claimed to have held a meeting with irrigation department experts last Wednesday to work out a strategy to cope with the situation. However, he said that there would still be serious problems all over Sindh and the worst affected would be the growers of the Kotri Barrage command area. “There will also be a shortage of drinking water but we are trying to manage that situation,” he said.

The CM deplored that link canals were being constructed and filled with water without taking other provinces into confidence. “This is a very undemocratic attitude and will create serious differences among the provinces and federation,” said Shah, demanding that Sindh and Balochistan also be taken into confidence when important decisions in the water, power and energy sectors are taken.

He also demanded that the administration of dams be given on a rotation basis to Sindh and Balochistan. “We don’t trust them [federation] in distribution of water, power and gas,” he said categorically.



Shah was surprised that the federal government was installing coal-fired power plant at Sahiwal and was of the view that the plant should have been installed in Sindh instead, since that is where the coal is.

“There are a number of other projects launched in the wrong places,” he complained.

Centre throws hurdles at Sindh govt

The water and power ministry was a big hurdle for the Sindh government when they were installing power plants and distribution lines, said Shah. “We have installed a power plant at Nooriabad in which the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) created lot of hurdles for us.”



He added that the Sindh government has established its own dispatch and distribution company, but that is also not acceptable to Wapda.
Shah announced that he will establish district power plants of wind and solar energy and then develop the provincial distribution system to provide power to the local areas. “This is the only way to control the power shortage, otherwise the approach of the federal government to produce energy is not based on sincere intentions,” he said, blaming ‘unscrupulous’ officials for creating problems and causing unnecessary delays.

Shah complained that there were some people in the ministry of water and power who even refuse to listen to their minister.

He also criticised the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and the Sukkur Electric Supply Company for prolonged load-shedding, over-billing and playing games to delay power projects in Sindh.



‘Stop victimising us’

Shah warned the federal government to let go of its policy of victimisation, claiming that otherwise his government will take action against the federal institutions working in Sindh.

“I ask the federal government not to force us to take action against their institutions working in Sindh,” he remarked.

CM on Sharjeel Memon

Replying to a question about Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Inam Memon, Shah said that it was high-handedness on the part of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that Memon was manhandled, despite being granted protective bail by the Islamabad High Court.



“He [Memon] is an elected member of the Sindh Assembly and came to face his cases but was harassed,” Shah said.

NAB or any other institution has no right to destroy or affect the smooth working of our development works in the name of corruption, he said while sharing that NAB had arrested senior irrigation officers but the court judgment in those cases was worth reading, as it exposes

NAB’s unnecessary actions 

He also added that people who are facing serious cases in the Supreme Court are enjoying senior and important positions in the federal government, while NAB harasses those who voluntarily return to court to face their cases.