Water
ISLAMABAD, May 26: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has convened an inter-provincial meeting on May 31 to look into the issue of water losses and launch an independent study to ascertain reasons....
Agriculture doomed as 4-5 MAF water shortage likely
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to face water shortage of 4.5-5 MAF (Million Acre Feet) by June 10, almost equal to Mangla dam’s storage capacity, as it has lost about 3 MAF water in first 40 days of th.....more
ISLAMABAD, May 22: The Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) on Monday decided to forward next year’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2006-07) of Rs350 billion for approval by the National Economic...
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has given assurance to Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi — suffering from serious heart ailment and being treated at the AFIC Rawalpindi — that Kalabagh dam would be constructed soon and he should not lose his ‘heart’ at all.
KBD environmentally a viable project
By Mohsin Babbar
ISLAMABAD (The Post, December 13): Country’s leading technical consultants consortium on hydropower has termed Kalabagh Dam an environmentally viable project after conducting a thorough research and survey study on building of mega dams in Pakistan. The study, which took two and a half year to complete and was commissioned by Water and Power Development Authority, has ensured no threats to the environment but cautioned that resettlement cost might go far beyond the early estimates made in the year 1984. Techno consultants, hydro power consultants, the College of Environment and Earth Sciences Lahore and a leading environment consultant company conducted the study and has recommended 10 million acre feet (MAF) of water downstream Kotri to balance the ecology of the Indus Delta. Although companies have not given one dam preference but has recommended that Kalabagh, Bhasha and Akhori dams can be constructed to fulfill the future water requirements of the country, as the already available dams are facing a problem of silting. The prime objective of the study was to determine the quantum of the silt, which is being gathered in the dams already available for water storages but it also undertook structural design, geo-seismic studies and Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). The study has recommended to the WAPDA that government should take decision of building dams, while considering political situation of the country and geographic situations of the dam sites. The study’s scope was also to see the storages capacity of Mangla and Tarbela dams that are being silting rapidly and has reduced their water storage capacity by around 30 percent so far. It is said in the report that resettlement cost would be the major cost component as originally it was estimated that around 100,000 people would be dislocated only in KBD area but now after 22 years population size of the area has gone up by some percentages, which needs to be taken care of in redesigning the project. One of the experts, who carried out the environmental portion of the study talking to The Post, said that according to the requirement of the Environment Protection Act 1997, Environment Impact Assessment must be taken to ensure that no threat would be made to the environment. “EIA of the all three proposed projects has come up with the results that there is no threat to the environment, if dams have to be constructed. There are some possible threats due to the construction of the dams but it is recommended to mitigate them,” an expert said. Meanwhile, three different studies recently conducted by international consultants also suggest the construction of mega dams in the country poses no environmental threat and analysing these three studies a panel of international experts has recommended 8.6 MAF of water downstream Kotri. On the other hand, leading international environment organisation, IUCN, has been advocating against the construction of large dams on environmental grounds, arguing that 9 out of 10 large dams in the world have damaged environment.
ISLAMABAD (The Post, December 13): Country’s leading technical consultants consortium on hydropower has termed Kalabagh Dam an environmentally viable project after conducting a thorough research and survey study on building of mega dams in Pakistan. The study, which took two and a half year to complete and was commissioned by Water and Power Development Authority, has ensured no threats to the environment but cautioned that resettlement cost might go far beyond the early estimates made in the year 1984. Techno consultants, hydro power consultants, the College of Environment and Earth Sciences Lahore and a leading environment consultant company conducted the study and has recommended 10 million acre feet (MAF) of water downstream Kotri to balance the ecology of the Indus Delta. Although companies have not given one dam preference but has recommended that Kalabagh, Bhasha and Akhori dams can be constructed to fulfill the future water requirements of the country, as the already available dams are facing a problem of silting. The prime objective of the study was to determine the quantum of the silt, which is being gathered in the dams already available for water storages but it also undertook structural design, geo-seismic studies and Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). The study has recommended to the WAPDA that government should take decision of building dams, while considering political situation of the country and geographic situations of the dam sites. The study’s scope was also to see the storages capacity of Mangla and Tarbela dams that are being silting rapidly and has reduced their water storage capacity by around 30 percent so far. It is said in the report that resettlement cost would be the major cost component as originally it was estimated that around 100,000 people would be dislocated only in KBD area but now after 22 years population size of the area has gone up by some percentages, which needs to be taken care of in redesigning the project. One of the experts, who carried out the environmental portion of the study talking to The Post, said that according to the requirement of the Environment Protection Act 1997, Environment Impact Assessment must be taken to ensure that no threat would be made to the environment. “EIA of the all three proposed projects has come up with the results that there is no threat to the environment, if dams have to be constructed. There are some possible threats due to the construction of the dams but it is recommended to mitigate them,” an expert said. Meanwhile, three different studies recently conducted by international consultants also suggest the construction of mega dams in the country poses no environmental threat and analysing these three studies a panel of international experts has recommended 8.6 MAF of water downstream Kotri. On the other hand, leading international environment organisation, IUCN, has been advocating against the construction of large dams on environmental grounds, arguing that 9 out of 10 large dams in the world have damaged environment.
KBD delay causing $1b annual loss
ISLAMABAD (The Post, Dec 13): Experts have stressed the need for the construction of big dams in the country to meet the future water requirements. They were speaking in PTV-World programme ‘News Night’, Sunday night. The participants included, Former Chairman WAPDA Shamsul Mulk and Dr Amir Muhammad Khan, former Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council. They said the huge quantity of water was wasted, specially during the flood season, into the sea. This water could be saved through the construction of reservoirs and millions of acres of barren but fertile land could be irrigated. “In this way, the farmers would become rich, the agriculture areas would be developed and the scarcity of food, wheat would be adequately met. The country would become self sufficient in grain and we can export wheat. “The setting up of agriculture related industries would lead to employment opportunities to thousands of people. It would also stop migration of people from rural to urban areas. Former Chairman WAPDA Shamsul said countries having sufficient water reservoirs made progress in all fields of life. He said Pakistan had only about 70 small and big dams, while the developed countries like China and United States have 22,000 and 6,000 large water reservoirs of different sizes. India has 4000 dams, he added. He said a huge amount of water was being wasted every year without any proper utilisation and storing this water in big and small dams can help meet increasing demand of electricity and water for irrigation. He said the country was facing loss of $ 1 billion annually due to non-construction of the Kalabagh Dam.Shamsul Mulk said Sindh and NWFP provinces would be the major beneficiaries of Kalabagh Dam. With the construction of the other dams like Bhasha, Daso, Skardu and Akorri, all provinces would get substantial additional water, he added.Dr Amir Muhammad Khan said within a few years, with the accumulation of silt, Tarbela and Mangla dams would not be able to cope with country’s needs. “If enough water reserviours are not built, there would be crisis in agriculture sector. Kalabagh Dam would provide 2.2 million acre feet additional water to Sindh. Stressing the need for building more and more water reserviours, he said that building of only one dam would not serve the purpose.“We should explore ways and means for ensuring judicious usage of water in our agriculture also. We should produce only those crops that consume less water,” he added. Clips of President Pervaiz Musharraf’s speech were also shown in the programme. He said, there was abundance of rivers in Pakistan. The construction of dams was the need of the hour, he added. He said Sindh could get share of 2.2 million acre feet of water from a single dam and 4.4 million acre feet additional water through two dams. He said committees on dams had submitted their reports totally in favour of implementation of 1991 Accord that provides 2 percent additional water to Sindh when a dam is constructed. Describing the 1991 accord as gentlemanly agreement, he said it should be adhered to in its true spirit.
Whose waters will you dam?
By M Ismail Khan
Northern Areas contributes 72 per cent to the flow of the Indus River at up stream of Tarbela. In fact, two out of the three proposed mega dams -- Bhasha (Diamir) and Skardu dams -- currently being debated are located in the Northern Areas. Yet, people of the region who will have to bear the brunt of major social, economic and ecological cost of inundation are nowhere on the consultation map of the president, parliament, and political parties. Diamir, Skardu and dozens of other potential dams' sites in the Northern Areas, which houses the world's largest inland natural glaciers, holds the key to Pakistan's future water security. The region's growing strategic importance for a water reservoir has made it a paramount party to the Kashmir dispute, meaning, multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank may seek clarification about the constitutional status of the Northern Areas before they could make longer term financial investments in the water sector of the region.
Adieu Kalabagh Dam
By M Ismail Khan
Northern Areas contributes 72 per cent to the flow of the Indus River at up stream of Tarbela. In fact, two out of the three proposed mega dams -- Bhasha (Diamir) and Skardu dams -- currently being debated are located in the Northern Areas. Yet, people of the region who will have to bear the brunt of major social, economic and ecological cost of inundation are nowhere on the consultation map of the president, parliament, and political parties. Diamir, Skardu and dozens of other potential dams' sites in the Northern Areas, which houses the world's largest inland natural glaciers, holds the key to Pakistan's future water security. The region's growing strategic importance for a water reservoir has made it a paramount party to the Kashmir dispute, meaning, multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank may seek clarification about the constitutional status of the Northern Areas before they could make longer term financial investments in the water sector of the region.
Adieu Kalabagh Dam
M. A. Kamran
Multi-purpose but most unfortunately politicalised, opposed and condemned Kalabagh dam has again been a victim of grand betrayal, much more than a tactical withdrawal by President General Pervez Musharraf, to say the least.
PML leadership backs Kalabagh Three-pronged govt strategy for support on KBDFederation confronts a dilemmaHyderabad police on alert for JSQM strike against KBDArmy deployed for mass killing of Bugti tribe: Nawab Bugti
Trust and confidence vital to economic growth
PML leadership backs Kalabagh Three-pronged govt strategy for support on KBDFederation confronts a dilemmaHyderabad police on alert for JSQM strike against KBDArmy deployed for mass killing of Bugti tribe: Nawab Bugti
Trust and confidence vital to economic growth
posted by zaicha | Thursday, May 25, 2006
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