Daily Archives: 12/08/2010

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, News, Pakistan, Punjab, Sindh

Kalabagh dam would have caused more flooding: Expert

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KBD would have caused more flooding: expert

* Former IRSA chief says dam is not a flood-control project

* ANP says dam would have done immense harm to KP, Sindh

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: The Kalabagh Dam – had it been built – would have caused flooding rather than averting it, a former chairman of the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) said on Wednesday, while responding to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s recent statement about the dam.

“The dam’s effect on floods would have been contrary to what the prime minister claimed,” said Fatehullah Khan Gandapur, who headed IRSA from 1993 to 1998.

The KP leadership has criticised the PM’s statement, and Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain termed the project “a dead horse”. “Kalabagh dam is not a flood-control project,” Gandapur said while talking to Daily Times on Wednesday. [August 11, 2010] “It is a run-of-the-river project and its design has to be changed if we want to make it a flood-control project,” he said.

Gandapur said the dam’s construction would have caused reverse flow in the Kabul River, submerging Nowshera district and water-logging the entire Peshawar valley. “Consultants have called the dam’s design a failure,” he said.

The Awami National Party is in no mood to compromise on its position over the dam. “Their (pro-dam elements) philosophy is to let the whole of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa drown,” senior ANP leader Senator Haji Adeel said. “Why doesn’t Islamabad look at other feasible projects instead of only eyeing the Kalabagh Dam, which aims to destroy two provinces?” he asked. “There are other projects that, if undertaken, will help you avoid flood and destruction,” he said. “Had the Kalabagh Dam been built, it would have sunk Akora Khattak and Jehangira towns in Nowshera district and its effects would also have been felt in Pabbi town,” Adeel said.

“Why don’t you build dams from where the water is coming?” he asked, adding that Basha Dam would be able to store 800,000 cusecs and Munda Dam 300,000 cusecs of water.

Courtesy: DAILY TIMES, August 12, 2010

Pakistan, Politics, Punjab, Sindh

A letter against Kalabagh dam

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Floods and Kalabagh Dam

by MUNAWAR HASSAN, Islamabad

Sir: I can recall Prime Minister (PM) Gilani’s first speech in parliament, when he categorically rejected the construction of the Kalabagh Dam. Later, it was observed that he appeared very political about the subject. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also refused to reject the scheme. Now PM Gilani has come up with an even more surprising stance that the destruction caused by the floods could have been averted had the dam been in place. It is baffling to see that the PM thinks that the amount of floodwater is just six million acre feet (MAF), which is the capacity of the Kalabagh Dam. The volume of floodwater runs up to 1.2 million cusecs (more than 100 MAF). What does PM Gilani propose for the rest of the 94 MAF of water? Moreover, the disaster would have aggravated if the water had flown upstream due to the dam on the Indus River. In addition, to collect water from a flood (which is a rare occurrence in Pakistan), the country’s leadership is prepared to destroy the Indus delta permanently. I humbly request the PM to avoid making such statements in public that perplex the people rather than giving them courage to face the calamity.

Courtesy: DAILY TIMES, August 12, 2010

History, India, Pakistan, Politics

The burden of history

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– Partition, 1947: The burden of history

By Mahir Ali

“I have considered from every possible point of view the scheme of Pakistan as formulated by the Muslim League”, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad proclaimed in a crucial statement issued some 16 months before India was partitioned in August 1947. “As an Indian, I have examined its implications for the future of India as a whole. As a Muslim, I have examined its likely effects upon the fortunes of Muslims in India… I have come to the conclusion that it is harmful not only for India as a whole but for Muslims in particular. And in fact it creates more problems than it solves”.

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