LAHORE, Feb 20: The Punjab plans to press ahead with its demand for Kalabagh dam in “supreme national interest” and take up the issue at the highest level in near future despite the rebuff at a meeting of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Tuesday.

Water experts from the province say the country has no option but to go for a big dam that could be ready within the next five years, and only Kalabagh dam fits the bill.

“This year both the major dams were empty by mid-February despite over-filling — water level had been 1,206 feet at Mangla against the optimum of 1,202 and 1,552 at Tarbela against the optimum of 1,550,” said a hydrologist from Lahore.

If there had not been timely rains, he added, the country could have faced a famine-like situation. Continued drought could have easily wiped out five to six million tons of wheat and rendered sowing of cotton impossible. The country still lost up to two million acre feet of water to sea because of the absence of a storage facility. This should have been an eye-opener for the water planners of the country, but it does not seem to be the case, he lamented.

“Over the last 30 years, Pakistan has lost around 2.5maf of its dams’ storage capacity to silting,” says a former member of Wapda. The lost capacity is the missing link between water problems and their solution. There is no way to recover that capacity without a new dam. There are three options available: Kalabagh, Bhahsha and Akhori dams. However, Bhasha and Akhori dams are still in the pre-feasibility stage. In practical terms means, this means that both are at least 15 years away.

“The proponents of Bhasha dam have more serious problems to grapple with, as the dam would submerge some 120km of Karakorum Highway and necessitate a 175km long detour to reconnect the highway. Moreover, the highway would have to be widened substantially to take heavy earth-moving equipment to the site.”

On the other hand, Kalabagh dam has passed all technical scrutinies and is ready for construction, he said. The government must make cool calculations and come up with a solution of the crisis, which threatens the very survival of the country, he asserted.

“Irsa refused to support the dam, because three of the four provincial assemblies had opposed it,” says an official of the authority. However, it is a technical body and must judge a case on technical rather than political grounds. If technicalities favour a project, the body should put its weight behind it. It has a limited mandate and should not confuse its responsibilities, he said. The Punjab did not ask it to order construction of the dam, but only to discuss and recommend it on technical grounds. Of course, it is the government that will have to take the final decision in this regard, he maintained.

“The country is losing over 100,000 acre feet capacity every year and it does not take a genius to calculate what would happen five years down the line if no decision is taken now,” said an official of the Punjab irrigation department. The dams would get empty by the end of December and there would be no water for second and third watering of wheat and sowing of cotton. It is time for quick action even if the government has to forge a consensus on the issue, he maintained.