To a fairly large extent, Minister for Water and Power Naveed Qamar is right in laying the blame at New Delhis door for Pakistans electricity crisis. Its not a matter of opinion but a fact that the 43 Indian hydel projects that according to him, are currently affecting the flow of water downstream in violation of Indus Waters Treaty have dealt a body blow to our agriculture and economy. He also warned that another 190 projects on our share of Indus waters were in the pipeline. But while venting our anger on the enemys ploys, it would be hard to deny the fact that we have also been turning a blind eye to its machinations by throwing Kalabagh Dam in cold storage. This project that has been in limbo for decades could have been an easy answer to the problem of loadshedding and, to a large extent, to the water shortage resulting from Indias diversion of Indus waters. Why have the power crunch assumed such horrific proportions is also because of neglect of the energy sector during the years of General Musharraf when not a single unit of electricity was added to the national grid. Only the supply and demand gap kept increasing. The pity is that the severity of the crisis and the urgency of taking prompt action did not bear in on the present PPP government. Much like the previous set-up, it resorted to the policy of ignoring Kalabagh Dam. And even when the entire country was devastated by the floods of last year, the opportunity of building it was not availed. Thus, the looming danger of floods in the future continues to scare the public. It is worth pointing out that Mr Qamar himself stated that the loss to various power companies during the past three years as a result of loadshedding was Rs 225 billion. These self-inflicted losses will go on increasing until and unless we have large dams to overcome the electricity shortage. In the absence of hydro power plants and reliance on rental power plants that consume oil and are a costly venture, it is no wonder that electricity companies have suffered so much. Given the manifest need for a large reservoir and certain political groups resisting its construction tooth and nail, reports that India is spending a large amount of money on the anti-Kalabagh lobby inside Pakistan continues to gain currency. A country that is fomenting violence in Balochistan would definitely seize every chance to stab us in the back. It is high time we watched out for hidden agents of the enemy.