LCCI to form council on KBD

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has decided to constitute a “Council on Kalabagh Dam” that would pave the way for early completion of this mega project, a statement said on Thursday.
The council would have experts, technocrats, business community leaders, ex-officio and representatives of the chambers and other trade bodies in its fold, LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said.
The sole objective of the initiative is to make environment conducive for early construction of Kalabagh Dam, as economic survival lies in cheap and sufficient hydropower generation, he said.
Arshad said that all those who are opposing the Kalabagh Dam are disfavouring the entire nation. They are playing with the future generations of this country, he said, adding that it is unfortunate that the wrong decisions of the policymakers only adversely impact the common man.
Historical data indicates that during the last 75 years, an average 146 million acres of water is available per annum in River Indus.
"We throw on an average 30MAF of water per annum in the sea – most of it during two months of monsoon. This water must be stored for irrigation and power generation."
LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Haider and Vice President Nasir Saeed said that a seminar on "Hydro Politics in South Asia" concluded that China, India and Pakistan are poor in fresh water that has the potential to flare into conflicts.
They said India has got double standards when it comes to water rights. It claims right on the basis of upper riparian over the use of this water against Pakistan, while in case of China and Nepal from where some of its rivers originate water has been claimed on historic use.