In a discussion on Kalabagh dam a participant from a ‘Qaum Parast’ party said, “You can build your dam on any side stream but we will not allow a dam in the Indus Basin”. He probably does not know that Tarbela dam is on the Indus main and Bhasha dam also will be on the Indus main.
For his information, it is the many tributaries, big and small, of a river, which combine to make up the main river, and that is where a mega dam can trap the waters of all the tributaries in one place, rather than a dam on each of them.
For example, instead of building a small or medium dam on on each of Kabul, Chitral, Swat, Haro or Soan river, one mega dam at Kalabagh will utilize all their waters for storage and generation and also for flood control. Of course, a dam on swat river will still be needed to protect Nowshera against floods.
We must not allow such unfounded apprehensions to deprive the country of the multifarious benefits of power and water. Not to mention the very serious consequences of not augmenting the declining storage capacity in the country.
ENGR KHURSHID ANWER,
Lahore, January 5.