An Essay on Kalabagh Dam

The project of Kalabagh Dam was launched in 1984 during the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haque. It was planned to complete in 1994. The estimated cost was about 4.9 billion dollars. Although still in shelf huge sums of money 1.3 billion rupees have already been spent on it.

As with all anti people projects this scheme too is surrounded by bundles of lies and misinformation. The myths that surround this dam are as under:

(i)         River Indus is over flowing with extra water which can be obtained via dams. This is absolutely wrong, because there is no extra water in Indus, delta region of Sindh is already facing disaster. The sole purpose of this project is to divert the natural flow of water to some specified areas of Punjab.

(ii)        It is being stated by WAPDA that the storage capacity of Kalabagh Dam would be 6.7 MAF. However this too is a myth. The reality is that a part from storing 6.7 MAF of Indus water a further 12.8 MAF water will be diverted left and right bank canals to facilitate irrigation in Mianwali, Khushab, Jehlum and Dera Ismaeel Khan districts of Punjab. Hence a total of about 19.5 MAF of Indus water will be taken away.

(iii)       It is also argued that Kalabagh Dam will generate surplus electricity which will add to the national prosperity. It is true that the Dam will generate extra hydro-electric power. But do we really need it? Is there no other alternate source to generate it? The answer is no we do not need it and there are other resources by using that we can generate the electricity. We can make more than that form the coal which has been discovered from Thar.

(iv)       Supporters of Kalabagh Dam say that lot of water is flowing in to the sea each year and that is wastage of water. By constructing Kalabagh Dam they would be able to save that water yes the water goes in to the sea if it is extra. But there is no extra water every year. If water would not flow in to the sea every year the sea water will come over to the land and will cover the most irrigated land. So by construction of Kalabagh Dam most area of Sindh will come under sea water.

A part from above stated facts this Dam will increase salinity and water logging and will further degrade agriculture productivity in the Indus Basin, because the storage of water created by the Dam will make forests and Kacha areas of Sindh dry. This will render huge areas of productive and fertile Sindh into desert. The construction of Kalabagh Dam will also have a disastrous effect aquatic species of Sindh such as Indus Dolphin Pallo and Sea cat. These species are already at the verge of extinction due to shortage of water.

The re-education of freshwater flow below Kotri had produced adverse effects on the lives of fisher men who depend upon agriculture and fisheries on the banks of Indus. Construction of Dam will further increase the poverty and joblessness in these areas. It will destroy wild life of Sindh. As the natural lakes Manchher, Keenjhar, Haleji will eventually vanish.

According to a report Dam will eventually down the Land which produces tobacco, sugarcane and sugar beet in NWFP. This includes places like Mardan, Takhat Bhai, Khazana Charsada and Swabi. Hence this will not only destroy the industry of NWFP but also its history and civilization.

This Dam will also cause heavy displacement. According to Government’s own figures some 70,00 families will be displaced in Peshawar, Noushera and Charsada in NWFP.

Keeping above stated facts in view Kalabagh Dam can not be constructed because it is harmful for the people of Sindh and NWFP.

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