Please allow me to add to your excellent editorial on Kalabagh and Bhasha dams. Bhasha dam will take much more than 10 years to build. It is already five years since Musharraf announced it. And work cannot start on the dam until the 300 KM approach road is widened and strengthened to take heavy machinery to the site. 15 years would be a more realistic target. Apart from the monsoon flows, Bhasha dam will also not trap the waters of the five big tributaries of the Indus. The flood waters of Kabul, Chitral, Swat, Haro and Soan will keep wreaking havoc in south Punjab and in Sindh until Kalabagh dam is built. It is correct that some political parties are opposing Kalabagh dam because of their sheer ignorance. But not enough is being done by the media to counter that ignorance. In addition to the occasional editorial comprehensive reports need to put out to educate public opinion. In our preoccupation with the external threat not enough is being written about the internal threat. Articles should be invited on specific issues from the many eminent engineers in the field. Dedicated efforts are needed in this regards if we are to make a dent in the ignorance that prevails on the subject.
ENGR KHURSHID ANWER,
Lahore, May 23.