DADU, Feb 18: Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Jatoi has said that water of the Nain Gaj and other streams in the Khirthar range of mountains and adjoining Balochistan area will be stored in the Nain Gaj dam.

Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the dam at the Zero Point in the Khirthar area near the Gaj Bungalow on Friday, he said that 25,000 acres of barren land in the Khirthar belt would be cultivated through the use of the stored water. It would also be supplied for drinking purpose and replenishing fisheries, he added.

Mr Jatoi said that dams were essential in different parts of the country as storage capacity of the existing reservoirs had reduced and claimed that Sindh would not suffer any loss after the construction of dams upcountry on the River Indus.

He alleged that the opposition leaders were opposing construction of dams because they were not interested in the development of the country. He said that by April 30, electricity would be provided to the Nain Gaj area and by June 30, the Gorakh hill station road would be completed.

WAPDA CHAIRMAN: Speaking on the occasion, chairman of Wapda Tariq Hameed said that water was available to cultivate hundreds of thousands of acres but rivers had to be controlled for this purpose.

He said that population was increasing and storage capacity of present reservoirs was decreasing, therefore construction of new reservoirs was vital. He said that Wapda had prepared a plan, Vision-2025, for effective utilization of water resources and the Bhasha dam, Greater Thal canal (Punjab), Kachhi canal (Balochistan) and Raini Canal (Sindh) were the first part of the programme.

Under its second part, sites for water reservoirs, including Skardu and Akhori dam, had been selected, he added. He said that the federal cabinet had approved the Mangla Dam raising project, Gomalzam, Mirani and Subkzai dams, Raini and Kachhi canals, besides Nai Gaj, Mole and Khadeji dams in Sindh, Nolang dam in Balochistan and Manda and Karam Tangi dam in the NWFP.

He said that foreign consultants had prepared a plan for the Nai Gaj dam in 1959. He said that the dam would have a height of 125 feet and would be constructed by using stone and clay.

He said that the dam would reduce flood losses and improve economic and social conditions of the area people. Federal secretary for water and power Ashfaq Mehmood and MPAs Manzoor Leghari and Ahsan Jatoi also spoke on the occasion.

BRIEFING: Meanwhile, the minister, secretary, Wapda chief, chairman of technical committee on water resources A. N. G. Abbasi, Wapda chief engineer (planning and investigation of dams) Mohammad Gohar Khan, project director (planning and investigation) of the Nai Gaj dam project Dawood Ali Khan and others attended a briefing on the dam at Gaj bungalow.

Wapda's general manager (planning and design) Choudhry Mohammad Mushtaq, briefing the meeting, said that the catchment area of the dam was spread over 2,750 square miles and it would have a live storage capacity of 0.13 million acre feet water, gross storage capacity of 0.2 MAF water and spillway capacity 7500 cusecs of water. He further said that the expected life of the dam would be 100 years and it would cost Rs1,510 million.