Water matters: Wapda rules out construction of Kalabagh Dam until unanimous decision

Zafar Mehmood claims Sindh is receiving its due share of water from the Indus River.

HYDERABAD:

Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Zafar Mehmood has ruled out the construction of the controversial Kalabagh Dam until all provinces give their consent to the project.

“The dam will not be built even if a single province objects to its construction,” he said at a press conference on Thursday, held after his meeting with representatives of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA).

According to him, the federal and provincial governments are only pursuing the dam projects on which there is a general consensus. In Sindh, he said, the rain-fed Darawat Dam in Thano Bula Khan is near completion, while work on a dam near Sehwan will start as soon as its PC-1 has been made.

Despite SCA’s complaints of receiving less water from the Indus River than their agreed share, Mehmood contended that the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) is strictly implementing water distribution formula among the provinces. He gave the example of how a request by Azad Kashmir’s government for the release of water was not entertained due to the IRSA’s disapproval.

Mehmood added that performance of the water measurement system, which was bought using a World Bank loan, is unsatisfactory and does not provide accurate water discharge readings. “The water in the Indus River comes from China, India and Afghanistan,” he said. “This is also one of the reasons for the inaccuracies in the readings.”

Mehmood said Wapda is consulting growers in all areas where new dam projects, small and large, are either under construction or are being planned.  He added that Wapda officials will hold monthly meetings with the agriculturists to discuss these projects and will take their recommendations into consideration.

SCA general-secretary Nabi Bux Sathio complained that Sindh received its share of water for the Kharif [summer] crops two months late, affecting cultivation of various crops. “When we asked the IRSA to explain, they say that Wapda uses water from these dams to produce electricity.” He also claimed that Sindh’s share of water is being stolen from the Chashma-Jhelum link canal, demanding an inquiry as well as a permanent monitoring system at the location.

SCA’s Zahid Bhurgari recommended the construction of a small dam on the Left Bank Canal Outfall Drain in Naukot, Mirpurkhas. The dam can provide water to Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparkar districts when water in the Indus is low.

Bhurgari criticised Wapda for wasting Rs35 billion on the Right Bank Canal Outfall Drain but leaving the project incomplete despite the passage of around two decades. “Its incompletion is injustice to the people of Sindh, especially to the farmers from the right bank districts from Larkana to Jamshoro,” he said. “Several areas along the project are flooded during monsoon rains and crops are destroyed.”

Malook Nizamani said prolonged load-shedding affects cultivation as electric tube wells stop working, which leads to irregular supply of irrigation water. He asked the Wapda chairman to waive load-shedding from morning to afternoon, when tube wells are used to draw subsoil water.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2014.