LAHORE - As water crisis has become a serious threat to the country, the business community has appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to look into the matter and try to create consensus among the provinces on this important.

Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front Chairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh observed that it is the most thoroughly studied project by world's top experts, reviewed by noted international panels of professionals and thoroughly appraised by the World Bank.

"The project is located in the middle of load centre, easy to approach and no long distance transmission lines are required for it and it is ready for construction since mid eighties and international financing from World Bank or Asian Bank can still be easily arranged," he said. The PIAF chairman said that some political interference has come in the way from two provinces of KP and Sindh which is not based on facts. Quoting the World Bank report, he said that world has built 45,000 large dams so far while Pakistan has built only two large dams.

He said that resultantly, the country is fast moving from being a water-stressed country to a water-scarce country.

He said that currently China's installed capacity of electricity generation is 1,146 million kilo watts, India's installed capacity is 2,28,722 mega watts whereas Pakistan has an installed capacity of 23,000 MW but it produces only 12,000 MW due to line losses, delay payments, line rents and poor maintenance of the hydel machinery.

Afghanistan should be stopped from ‘stealing’ Pakistan’s water

INP: Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders on Tuesday demanded steps to bar Afghanistan from stealing Pakistan’s water. Afghanistan has become an actor in the Indian conspiracy to make Pakistan a desert as it is constructing a dozen dams to steal Pakistan water with the help of funding from enemy nations. “India has already constructed many dams while hundreds are under construction hitting Pakistan’s share of water and damaging our economy badly and now Afghanistan is following it,” said patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Butt.

Unholy designs of India left the formula to share 18.5 million acre foot of water useless which has resulted in tensions and can transform in a bloody conflict as the World Bank is clearly tilted towards New Delhi. Now Afghanistan, on the behest of India, is constructing a dozen dams costing over seven billion dollars which will have a capacity of store five MAF of water to reduce Pakistan water share in River Kabul by 17 percent hitting people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA.

The Kabul River and its tributaries are indispensable for meeting the drinking water and sanitation needs of the more than two million residents of Peshawar city, irrigation in the small but fertile Peshawar Valley and the sub-regions of Tank, DI Khan, and North Waziristan.

Moreover, the Kabul River supports the 250 MW hydropower dam in Warsak built in 1960 and subsequently enlarged. Crucially the Kabul and its tributaries augment the flows of the Indus at Attock by between 20 and 28 million acre feet which cannot be ignored.

Afghanistan should think twice before continue to dance on the tunes of enemies of Pakistan, he warned.

He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan should try to find a solution to resolve the issue and sign a balanced water sharing accord otherwise masses will suffer and the outcome will not be in the interest of any country.