ISLAMABAD, June 15: Construction of new dams is vital for the development of the nation but a mafia, who wants to reap benefits from more petrol sale, has been resisting the move leading to the energy crisis in the country.

This was stated by Federal Minister for Climate Change Rana Mohammad Farooq Saeed Khan while talking to Dawn. He said former military dictator Ziaul Haq deliberately politicised the Kalabagh Dam project just because it was initiated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Earlier speaking at a press conference, the minister said he had suggested to the provincial governments to allocate funds for disaster management, especially floods. He said the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had allocated Rs3 billion to meet natural disasters.

The minister said Punjab and Sindh governments should have allocated Rs5 billion each because it would become difficult to arrange funds and transfer them to district coordination officers on time.

“I will visit the flood-affected areas and will see from where the rivers had deliberately been breached. I will make sure that no one would do it again,” he said.

Director General Pakistan Meteorological Department Arif Mehmood said this year five to 15 per cent above-normal rain was expected. The only way to avoid floods is that we should clean and widen the streams and rivers, he added.

Chairman National Disaster Management Authority Dr Zafar Iqbal said: “Last year during floods we had appealed for $450 million but we hardly received 10 per cent of the amount from foreign countries and donors. Now it has been decided that in case of any floods, we will depend on our own resources and there will be better coordination among the departments.”

Earlier, a seminar regarding disaster management was held in which different departments and non-government organisations discussed their problems. Their major concern was that the announced aids did not reach the district administrations.