Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the 10 dams being constructed by the government will double the country’s storage capacity to irrigate more land and help reduce the impact of climate change.
He was addressing an international symposium regarding hydropower development in Islamabad on Monday.
The Prime Minister regretted the indifference of previous governments to the construction of big water reservoirs. He pointed out that China constructed five thousand dams whilst Pakistan only built two major dams back in the 60s. He said had the hydropower potential of the country was tapped, the country today would not have been faced with the issue of rising prices of electricity as well as inflation.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that his government whilst pursuing the forward looking approach decided to construct ten dams in a decade time. He said given increase in our population, we have to bring more land under cultivation in areas such as D.I.Khan, Balochistan and Thar, which can be done with the availability of water. He said Pakistan can become wheat and cotton exporting country by irrigating more land.
As regards the proposal of Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi for construction of Kalabagh Dam, the Prime Minister acknowledged that Pakistan requires more water storage capacity and the very site of Kalabagh is very appropriate for the dam.
