Kalabagh Dam: Fact and Fiction (Part 1)

Jun 1, 2016 | Zafar Mahmood
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World over water storage and irrigation projects are no strangers to controversies - but difference of opinion surrounding Kalabagh Dam (KBD) Project has some unique aspects. This project, practically in a comatose state for the last quarter century, has ironically become a living symbol of our inter-provincial disunity. The lingering debate continues to evoke base emotions and generate acidic argumentation largely along ethnic and inter provincial lines. The unanimous resolutions passed against this development scheme by Provincial Assemblies of Sindh, KP and Baluchistan, have arrayed three smaller Provinces against Punjab and caused strains in the Federation. Now, with reference to federal cohesion, it is mentioned as a symbol to convey the impossibility of developing a consensus.

In this whirlpool of arguments containing a toxic mix of appeal to parochial sentiments and political posturing, why then a serving Chairman of WAPDA may willingly wade through the troubled waters.