The Lahore High Court has asked the federal government to make serious efforts to facilitate a national consensus over the construction of Kalabagh Dam. The KBD project was conceived in 1955 and since then has been in limbo on one pretext or another. The project, otherwise essential for bridging the energy gap between supply and demand, received opposition from the hardcore Sindhi and Pashtun leadership. It was given go ahead by international financial institutions and experts on dam building organizations declaring it the most viable option to meet our energy needs. There have been a series of allegations that those opposing the KBD project were receiving funds from abroad. However, the PPP government has the credit of dumping this project once and for all.
The Council of Common Interests (CCI) has since announced that it would have no objection over resumption of work on KBD once the matter was referred to it. Both the CCI and the Wapda have also submitted their responses, declaring concerns of Sindh and KP governments as baseless, in the High Court while response of the federal government is still awaited. It is about time that the political leadership rose from petty party considerations and gave precedence to the greater national interest. In the wake of the prevailing curse of prolonged loadshedding that has ruined the national economy, it is essential to build KBD without any further delay.