LARKANA, Dec 18: Leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro has said the PPP will never accept construction of the Kalabagh dam. He was talking to Dawn here on Sunday. Khair Mohammed Shaikh, senior vice-president of the Larkana PPP, Ghulam Abbas Kehar and Asghar Shaikh were present on the occasion.

Mr Khuhro said that the government had failed to maintain irrigation system in the country and instead of correcting it the rulers were out to construct the most controversial project, the Kalabagh dam.

He said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf revived the issue of Kalabagh to divert people’s attention from the government’s failure to provide relief to earthquake victims and to improve the irrigation system.

The PPP leader posed a question that why the government not started removing silt from the Tarbela dam to meet shortage of water instead of pressing for the Kalabagh dam.

He said that during the rule of the PPP this kind of activity created more capacity in the dam.

Mr Khuhro said there was no need of the Kalabagh dam when the government wanted to raise the height of the Mangla dam by five feet.

He said the government did not fulfil its promise of sinking 5,000 tube wells and lining of irrigation channels and tributaries in the province.

The opposition leader condemned the Sindh chief minister for criticizing only two canals of the Kalabagh dam in his meeting with the president.

He referred to the recent statement of the prime minister and the federal information minister that the Sindh chief minister had supported the proposed project.

Mr Khuhro said that the Sindh government was avoiding discussing the issue in the provincial assembly.

He praised the stand of the former caretaker prime minister, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, on the dam.

He chose not to comment on the statement of Pir Pagaro who favoured the dam.

About the proposed anti-dam rally in Karachi on December 22, Mr Khuhro said that the PPP would participate profusely in it.

The opposition leader also threw light on problems faced by paddy growers.

He said the government failed to keep the existing irrigation system intact and was also turning a deaf ear towards announcing support price for the paddy growers.

He said the growers yielded a bumper crop this year but the government was reluctant to procure paddy which in turn was inflicting huge financial losses on the farmers and millers.

CONFERENCE: Speakers at a conference held here on Sunday under the auspices of Writers’ Club lauded the sense of criticism of Professor Nazeer Soomro in Sindhi literature.