SINDH’S irrigation canals are facing severe water shortage, which is affecting the sowing of early Kharif crops. The shortage will worsen as demand for water increases. “It seems to have become a rule rather than exception that water supply is not ensured even during Kharif season”, says Sindh Abadgar Board (Sab) President Abdul Majeed Nizamani. Farmers need water to prepare nurseries of rice crop in early May in upper Sindh region while in Kotri barrage’s command area; water flow is [...]
May 14, 2013 6:14 am
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has prepared a $12.5 billion funding programme for Diamer Bhasha Dam with resources coming from internal and external sources including the Asian Development Bank, the United States and Islamic Development Bank, seemingly dealing a blow to India’s attempts to block foreign financing for what it calls a controversial project. According to reports, the Indian lobby in Washington has been actively campaigning against Diamer Bhasha Dam, asking the US and other lenders to link their assistance for [...]
May 8, 2013 9:21 am
Agricultural sub committee of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) headed by Shahid Naseem Khokhar has stressed the need for construction of Kalabagh dam and other water reservoirs to save our agricultural economy which contributes 26 percent of GDP and 52 percent of the total populace is getting its livelihood from it. 67.5 percent people are living in the rural areas of Pakistan and are directly involved in it. The convener said that economy of Pakistan depends heavily on [...]
January 29, 2013 10:37 am
900 megawatts of electricity will be added to the national grid by the end of 2013. The United States has reminded Pakistan that it is committed to helping Islamabad, an important partner of the US, pull out of the crippling energy crisis with financing for electricity projects, in particular for the gigantic Diamer Bhasha Dam. The US would provide funds for new and existing hydropower projects, which would increase electricity production by 900 megawatts by the end of 2013, said [...]
January 3, 2013 10:31 am
“Financing is the main problem and we are trying to convince ADB and the World Bank to lend assistance,” says WAPDA chairman. ISLAMABAD: As multilateral donors do not take keen interest in financing Diamer Bhasha Dam, the United States has agreed to lend support and provide $3.5 billion for the critical project, which will cost $14 billion and ease growing water and power shortage in the country. Giving a briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Water and Power [...]
December 8, 2012 2:37 pm
Sheikh says topic of Iran-Pakistan pipeline never raised in meetings. Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh revealed on Wednesday that the US has committed to funding $200 million for preliminary work on the Diamer-Bhasha dam, including for feasibility studies and surveys. This was in addition assistance in repairing four dams and an instalment of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF). In a press conference at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, Shaikh calmed nerves by revealing that the ADB was not pulling out [...]
December 2, 2012 6:28 am
A judicial or executive order was not enough to launch a controversial project like the Kalabagh dam, the prime minister said on Saturday. “Projects of national import are executed only after thrashing out a consensus of all stakeholders,” Raja Pervez Ashraf said in reply to a question about the Lahore High Court’s verdict ordering the federal government to go ahead with the construction of dam. “The issue is being raised by some people at a time when elections are round [...]
December 2, 2012 6:19 am
The government must be permitted to decide as a representative of all people in the country. We had come to believe that the controversies surrounding the construction of the Kalabagh Dam have been laid to rest. However, just recently, it has been exhumed and resurrected by the Lahore High Court (LHC). In a ruling that has come as something of a tidal wave, the Chief Justice of the LHC, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, hearing a petition, has ordered the federal [...]
December 2, 2012 6:11 am
Pakistan wastes worth Rs500 billion worth of water annually into the sea, which could be used to irrigate arable land in the country, says Aslam. Faisalabad’s business community has welcomed Lahore High Court’s judgment directing the government to start construction of the proposed Kalabagh Dam. The dam will be built on river Indus and have a generation capacity of 3,600 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The project has been highly debated, cancelled multiple times yet has been deemed a necessity since [...]
October 20, 2012 4:45 am
Minister for Water and Power Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar and Acting Secretary Nargis Sethi were absent from the meeting. ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has informed a parliamentary panel that it will award a project contract for the 4th extension of Tarbela Dam by April 2013. The project which will take four years to complete will add 1,410 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the national grid. While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power, Wapda Chairman [...]
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