KARACHI, 23 December 2005 — Sindh will be the major loser if no water reservoirs are built in the country, President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday addressing a press conference. He said that no canal will be built at any dam including the Kalabagh Dam.
Addressing a public meeting in Sukkur, Musharraf said Sindh will be provided its share of water according to the 1991 river water apportionment agreement and if needed legal and constitutional safeguards will be provided on the issue.
By the year 2010, he pointed out, the shortage of water will be to the extent of the intake of one dam and to fill the gap construction of one dam was immediately needed.
He said the decision for building large water reservoirs will be made keeping in view the interests of all provinces.
He said as a Sindhi he wanted prosperity of the province.
Musharraf said a barrage would be built in Sehwan with five canals, which will benefit cultivators in the province.
Meanwhile, thousands of people gathered in Karachi yesterday to protest against theplan to build a dam on the Indus River that the government says is vital for the country’s development.
The protesters, from mainstream opposition parties as well as provincial nationalist groups, chanted slogans against President Musharraf and his proposal to build the Kalabagh Dam.
“The people of Pakistan are totally opposed to the plans of Gen. Musharraf to construct the Kalabagh Dam,” Raza Rabbani, opposition leader in the Senate, the upper house of Parliament.
