Islamabad:
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister, described the Kalabagh dam as a vital project for the state. He urged the government to approach the reserves that people have with regard to the project, that the KP and Sindh provinces rejected earlier.
Addressing the media after a party meeting at the KP house in Islamabad on Monday, Gandapur, which belongs to the PTI, said that the absence of major dams had led to mass destruction during recent floods.
“We are even afraid to mention the names of certain dams, but the Kalabagh dam is necessary for the state. If there are objections on this subject, a dialogue should be held to resolve them,” he added.
The CM said they were ready to bring their share for the construction of the dam, and that other provinces should also play their role to make it possible. Gandapur said the delays in the construction of dams have caused enormous damage, and now the provincial government is building the dams alone.
He noted that Pakistan has not adequately prepared for natural disasters or has built enough dams.
“Last year, we finished six dams. The Gomal Zam dam was completed, which reduced losses, and now we build dams in various districts to mitigate problems,” he said.
The CM said that for the protection of Peshawar, the Jabba dam is under construction, while a protective wall is under construction in Budhni to protect the city from the floods.
Speaking with the loss of hundreds of lives in Buner, he said that Cloudburst had occurred in the district and that recent devastations in the region were not the result of deforestation.
“Cloud explosions occur due to atmospheric heat and can occur anywhere,” he said.
The CM said the provincial government would built stone barriers, modeled according to Switzerland, with nets to block the rocks transported by flood waters.
The Kalabagh dam is a hydroelectric dam offered on the Indus River in Kalabagh in the Mianwali Du Punjab dis-scatter. The dam, proposed for the first time in the 1950s, has been intensely debated along ethnic lines and re-glionation for several decades.
In the event of construction, the dam would generate 3,600 megawatts of power. It is also suggested and promoted as a potential solution to the problem of chronic floods and related water crises in the country.
