ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday that the report of the technical committee on the Kalabagh and Bhasha dams, when received, would immediately be referred to the federal cabinet for discussion and would later be placed before parliament for an open debate.

The president was talking to lawmakers belonging to the ruling PML and allies who had called on him at the President's House.

The president said that the construction of Kalabagh and Bhasha dams was the need of the hour in view of the fast-increasing water demand. He said that further steps would be taken after evolving a consensus.

Gen Musharraf dispelled an impression that Nowshehra would be inundated with the construction of Kalabagh dam. Referring to the situation in Balochistan, he said no military operation was under way in the province. But, he said, the government would ensure security of all national installations in the province.

"The Balochistan issue is being politicized by some elements who are misinforming the people that government is planning to launch a military operation in the province," the president said.

He did not rule out involvement of a foreign hand in whatever was happening in the province and said that the people of the province could not harm their own as well as national interests.

"The people of Balochistan cannot destroy power towers and railway tracks which are being laid for their prosperity and progress."

About the tragic rape incident in Sui, the president said the rapists would be taken to task in the light of the report of a tribunal which was investigating the case.

Referring to development projects being undertaken by the government in Balochistan, Gen Musharraf said that the completion of development projects in the province would usher in an era of socio-economic progress for the people of the province, and emphasized that nobody would be allowed to obstruct this process.

"The current allocations for Balochistan have increased five times to 15 per cent of the Public Sector Development Programme, which are unprecedented and far higher than just two to three per cent of the PSDP that the province used to receive in the pre-1999 period," the president observed.

In this context, the president said the government had analysed the situation and decided immediately to redress the lingering difficulties and a growing sense of deprivation among the people of the province by launching the development projects.

"Since then, our thrust has been to provide better economic opportunities through both mega projects and realization of basic facilities at people's doorsteps.

"I am confident that the quantum increase in development allocations would result in poverty reduction through job creation in both rural and urban areas and set the pace for sustainable development in the province."

He referred to the under-construction Gwadar deep seaport, Makran coastal highway, Mirani and Subakzai dams, Quetta Water Supply Scheme and Katchi Canal, and said these projects would bring about a qualitative change in the lives of people.

"Now that the country has gained economic stability and is at a take-off stage, we are endeavouring to turn the country into a regional hub of trade and economic activities and are in the process of laying a network of communication infrastructure which will benefit the province tremendously," he said.

He said the government was now focussing on supplying natural gas to more and more cities and towns of Balochistan.

"Ziarat has been supplied with natural gas while Loralai and Kalat are in the process of receiving it," he added.

"It is regrettable that the people of Balochistan were deprived of natural resources in the past, but now we are transporting gas to its cities and towns to speed up their development and bring them on a par with developed parts of the country," the president observed.

He said special centres had been set up to recruit people of Sindh and Balochistan as jawans and officers in the Pakistan Army.

At present, he said, the Pakistan Army had 70,000 soldiers from Sindh and 10,000 from Balochistan. He said a large number of local people would be recruited in the Frontier Constabulary, adding that minimum standards for recruitment in the force had been lowered so that more people could be recruited in the FC from Balochistan.

The president said a road would also be built from Dera Ismail Khan to Zhob and Loralai to Dera Ghazi Khan, which would ensure development of more economic activities in the province.

The members of parliament appreciated Gen Musharraf's deep interest in the development of Balochistan and expressed their wholehearted support for his policies.

Those who met the president included Deputy Chairman of Senate Khalilur Rehman, Leader of the House in Senate Wasim Sajjad, PML Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Federal Ministers Zubaida Jalal, Yar Muhamamd Khan Rind, Javed Ashraf Qazi, Abdul Razaq Thaheem, Abdul Hafiz Sheikh, Babar Khan Ghauri, Muhammad Ajmal Khan and Ministers of State Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli, Tariq Azeem, Muhammad Ali Durrani, Shahzad Wasim and Muhammad Naseer Khan Mengal.--Agencies.