Dr Arshad Choudry, Chairman poultry association, has said that reliance on thermal generation has reversed the energy mix that needs to be corrected in the larger interests of the country. The country at the moment is spending billions of dollars annually on import of oil that can be saved by shifting to coal. However he said that Kalabagh Dam is the only solution for ongoing energy crisis and the government should evolve a strategy to develop consensus for paving the way for early construction of this mega project of national importance. He said that a big majority of Pakistanis want early construction of this dam which is lifeline to the country’s economy. He said that the government silence over the construction of Kalabagh Dam and its reliance on thermal power is giving birth to many questions in the common man’s mind. India is fast constructing new dams knowing that hydel power is the answer to the electricity shortage and not thermal power. He said most of the industrial units had already reduced their working to single six-hour shift from the previous three shifts system. This had led to increased level of raw-material wastage leaving production process non-profitable. The crisis in industrial sector is not only causing flight of capital and relocation of industrial units to the countries like Bangladesh and Malaysia but had also reduced government revenues drastically.
Engr Khurshid Anwer,
Lahore, July17.