Kalabagh Dam: Court verdict rejected outright by Sindh, K-P

Qaim Ali Shah says construction of the dam was “out of the question.”

SUKKUR/ PESHAWAR:

With strong-worded statements on Saturday, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) both officially rejected the Lahore High Court (LHC)’s verdict regarding the construction of the contentious Kalabagh Dam – with the latter appealing to the apex court to scrap the LHC verdict.

Terming the verdict “intolerable” for the province, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said the construction of the dam was “out of the question.” On Thursday, the LHC chief justice had ordered the federal government to construct the Kalabagh Dam and assuage any fears of its opponents.

Talking to the media at Sukkur airport, the chief minister said that Sindh was already facing water shortages and held that the dam would only further complicate the issue.

He took the opportunity to hit out at Sindhi nationalists, which had been chastising the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government for the introduction of a new local government law. Without naming the nationalists, whom he held were “looking after the interests of Punjab,” he said these groups were busy protesting against the local government law and not uttering a word against Kalabagh.

Meanwhile, K-P asked the Supreme Court to take suo moto action against the construction of the dam and do away with LHC’s directives to restore the confidence of the people.

Speaking at a press conference, K-P Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that, although the province respects the judiciary, the Supreme Court should discard the LHC’s decision.

“The entire judiciary, including judges and lawyers, should guide the judge at the LHC who has attempted to revive the contentious Kalabagh dam project,” Hussain said adding, there are people, present both in the judiciary and the Parliament, who are wise enough not to allow such a conspiracy to brew that will put the institutions of the country at loggerheads.

To a question Hussain replied, “[Kalabagh dam project is] a thing we do not accept at all, and it need not to be challenged at the courts.”

He contended that, after the passage of 18th Amendment, a dam cannot be constructed without the consent of the provinces, hence it is a violation of the Constitution to ask the federal government to construct it.

Hussain said that the Kalabagh is a “project of destruction” for the country. He said that three of the federation’s provinces are its construction basing their discontent on expert opinions.

He urged the government to focus on the construction of Diamer Basha and Katzara dams in the northern regions of the country instead.

“People of Punjab are on our side,” Hussain claimed, citing Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira’s view that the controversial issue should not be taken up again.

To a question, Hussain said that if Kalabagh was harped on again, the (K-P government) will review its stance once more and would take up the issue of water theft of the province that irrigates lands, particularly in Punjab.

He added that the provincial government will also review the stance on Ghazi Barotha Project that has deprived K-P of water by drying up Indus by channelizing water elsewhere.

Hussain, however, did not come up with details as to how the K-P government will address water theft or the Ghazi Barotha issue.

Meanwhile, members of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) strongly condemned the LHC’s verdict.

At a meeting of the PHCBA chaired by its President Abdul Latif Afridi, the body passed a unanimous resolution rejecting the LHC verdict and said the verdict will create differences between the provinces and the federation.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2012.