Industry insists Kalabagh Dam will benefit all provinces

Praises Supreme Court’s action on water and Kalabagh issues

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has welcomed the action taken by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on water issues and Kalabagh Dam, calling it a ray of hope for Pakistan.

In a statement, LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid pointed out that Indian water aggression and Pakistan’s failure to build new water reservoirs had thrown the country into ranks of water-starved countries.

“Research reports have warned that Pakistan will have absolute water scarcity by the year 2025, if water reservoirs are not built,” he said.



The LCCI president emphasised that perceptions about Kalabagh Dam were false and actually were aimed at safeguarding the interests of the country’s enemies.

He was of the view that Kalabagh would be equally beneficial for all the provinces and delay in its construction was the only reason behind water shortage in Sindh and other parts of the country.

Average water supply to Sindh was 36.6 million acre feet annually before the construction of Mangla and Tarbela dams, he said, adding the supply was enhanced to 40.30 million acre feet after the building of these dams. “Kalabagh Dam will supply an additional 4 million acre feet to the southern province.”



The LCCI chief called the construction of Kalabagh Dam inevitable for the progress and prosperity of Pakistan as it would produce electricity at an average cost of Rs2 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

“This cheap power will displace costly electricity, which is approximately worth Rs300 billion annually with savings in expensive oil imports,” he said.



The dam will irrigate 800,000 acres of land that is located 100-150 feet above the Indus River.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2018.

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