Bhasha will not moderate floods in rivers which will keep wreaking havoc every year in south Punjab and Sindh.
LAHORE: The PPP government is according top priority to the Bhasha Dam unmindful of its many limitations. It will not utilise the huge flows of the Kabul, Chitral, Swat, Haro and Soan rivers, which only the Kalabagh Dam can, if built. Similarly, it will not moderate the floods in these rivers which will keep wreaking havoc every year in south Punjab and Sindh. Being outside the monsoon range, it will not utilise any of the 30 million acre feet of annual monsoon flows. It will be dependent entirely on the snow that will melt from the glaciers, which have a projected life of only 30 years.
It was not without reason that the Kalabagh Dam was given top priority and was the first dam to be proposed under Wapda Vision 2025. Sindh will get the same share of water from the Kalabagh Dam as Punjab. The PPP government should stop misleading the people, tell them the truth and let them decide.
Engr Khurshid Anwer
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2013.
