Bhasha Dam as vital as N-plan: minister

Published November 6, 2013
“We have decided to build this dam at any cost, even if it requires us to tighten our belts.”  The Bhasha dam project, he said, was “as important as Pakistan’s nuclear programme once was, if not more”. — File Photo
“We have decided to build this dam at any cost, even if it requires us to tighten our belts.” The Bhasha dam project, he said, was “as important as Pakistan’s nuclear programme once was, if not more”. — File Photo

WASHINGTON: For Pakistan, building Bhasha Dam was as important as completing the country’s nuclear programme once was, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal told a meeting in Washington on Tuesday. “It is a matter of life and death for us now,” the minister said while explaining to an audience of US scholars and researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, why the present government was committed to this project.

“We have decided to build this dam at any cost, even if it requires us to tighten our belts.”

The Bhasha dam project, he said, was “as important as Pakistan’s nuclear programme once was, if not more”.

Mr Iqbal said he would seek the World Bank’s support for the project when he meets its president. “If the dam is not built now, in the next 10 years or so we will have a water crisis so acute that people will forget the energy crisis,” he warned.

Not building the dam, he said, would have negative consequences for entire South Asia and beyond as it would threaten Pakistan’s food security and create a new population of “millions of half-fed and unemployed people”, said the minister who also addressed members of the Pakistani media after the talks.

The government had already contacted friendly governments and international financial institutions, including the United States, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, seeking their support for the project, Mr Iqbal said, adding that the government also was trying to form an international consortium to finance the dam.

“We are determined to start the project as soon as we can,” he said. “And we hope international financers realise the seriousness of the situation.”

The minister said that there’s a national consensus in Pakistan on this issue as all political parties were backing the government’s decision to build the dam “for a better tomorrow”. The dam, he said, was “a safety net” to prevent a “drought like situation and to protect our future generations”.

Responding to a question, the minister advised all political parties, including Tehreek-i-Insaf, not to exploit the situation arising out of Hakeemullah Mehsud’s elimination for domestic political gains. “This is not an issue to exploit for political gains,” he said, “and this is not the time.”

The country, he said, was passing through a very difficult phase and “adventurism at this stage will have very dangerous results”.

Mr Iqbal said that Imran Khan also had participated in the all-party conference that decided to engage the Taliban in peace talks and since the government was committed to the decisions taken at the APC, he should back the government.

Without naming the United States, the minister urged “all friendly nations to refrain from actions that could threaten peace and stability in the region”.

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.