Three provincial assemblies have been opposing construction of the KBD.
RAWALPINDI: The 3,500MW Kalabagh Dam Project (KBD) was approved by the Inter-Provincial Technical Committee on Water Resources. The committee looked into a range of matters, including riverine irrigation and fisheries (Pala fish, shrimp, Kharif and Rabi cultivation), besides growth of mangroves. Previously, the project was approved by the World Bank Indus Special Study Group in its report titled ‘Development of Water and Power Resources of Pakistan: A Sectoral Analysis (1967)’. The estimated cost was $6.12 billion, over six years from 1977 to 1982. After commissioning of Tarbela Dam in 1976, the dam could have been built in six years by 1982. The cost per unit of 12 billion units, the KBD hydel electricity was Rs1.5 as compared to Rs16.5 per unit from thermal sources.
The losses due to the delays in the project have soared up to Rs180 billion a year due to its 10-time costlier construction. Added to it is the loss of $6.12 billion per annum due to superfluous flow of 30 million acre feet of water from Kotri Barrage into the Arabian Sea. In Kharif season, rivers flow at 84 per cent while only at 40 per cent during Rabi season. The present water storage capacity in Pakistan is hardly 11.77MAF that is only about eight per cent of the annual flow.
Three provincial assemblies have been opposing construction of the KBD. Ignoring the Water Apportionment Accord, a politician claimed that the dam would convert Sindh into a desert. Apprehensions against the dam need to be allayed as directed by the Lahore High Court.
Amjed Jaaved
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2017.
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