Kalabagh dam is a victim of parochial thinking and gross ignorance, people have been told among many other falsehoods, that Sindh will become a desert and Nowshera will get flooded if the dam is built. 

Any political party that openly supports Kalabagh dam will not get any votes in Sindh or in KP, it will cease to be a national party and will become a regional party, that is why both PML-N and PTI say that Kalabagh dam will not be built without consensus among all the provinces. 

Politics is a game of numbers, no political party, in government or out of it, can risk its vote bank in three provinces and still remain viable. 

Mangla and Tarbela dams increased supply to Sindh canals from 35.6 maf to 44.5 maf. A 25% increase of 8.9 maf with which Sindh was able to cultivate an additional 20 lakh acres. Nowshera will not get flooded because the reservoir level will be kept 100 feet below Nowshera at the start of the flood season, the dam will be filled to its capacity only after the flood peak has gone past. 

The ball is in our court, the concerned citizens and the experts have to counter the false propaganda against Kalabagh dam. we can only accomplish this by the cooperation of the print and electronic media. 

ENGR KHURSHID ANWER,  

Lahore, February 18.