LCCI urges for construction of Kalabagh dam

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the government to allocate adequate funds for construction of reservoirs in the federal budget 2022/23, a statement said on Tuesday.

“New dams are needed for Pakistan, not only to generate cheap electricity but also to avert the threat of food security,” LCCI Acting President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan said.

The policy makers will have to understand that the economic growth lies in the construction of water reservoirs which are a cheap source of electricity, he added.

The government will have to create consensus for early construction of water reservoirs, Chan said, adding that the rising population could create severe food security challenges in near future.

“We need to build water reservoirs including Kalabagh dam as it will bring a huge part of land under cultivation which is currently lying idle due to lack of water,” the LCCI official said.

Pakistan needs to feed the ever growing population and the only solution to overcome this challenge is to build the Kalabagh dam, Chan said.

He said that being an agrarian economy, Pakistan cannot afford to waste huge amounts of water resources which are depleting fast. Shortage of water has not only caused undue damage to the agriculture sector but the manufacturing sector is also affected by this phenomenon.

“Kalabagh dam has been so much politicised that a consensus seems difficult, therefore the government would have to take decision,” Chan said, adding, “An opinion has gained widespread support across the country that the losses of past floods in Pakistan which were estimated to be billion dollars, could have been reduced if big dams and water reservoirs were in place.”