Smaller Dams & Water Shortages In Pakistan

Pakistan does not have enough water resources now in view of the rising demands, reduction in the supply of river water, continuous lowering of the underground water table and uncertain rainfall. A person needs 1000 cubic metres of water per year which was available several times earlier,but not now. That is why the UN declared 2003 to be the international year if freshwater. India has been constructing barrages and installing hydroelectricity plants across the river flowing into Pakistan in violation of the Indus Basin Treaty Of 1964. This has reduced the flow of water to us. The water flow from Afghanistan into Pakistan is also in danger of being reduced when she starts working on water storage projects on rivers flowing into our country.

The population is increasing fast.The supply of clean drinking (potable) water is not increasing. Farms and industries need more water as more land comes under cultivation and new industries are set up. The supply of canal water is decreasing. Tubs-wells do not pull enough water as the water table underground is going down. Factories and homes need cheap electricity. Electric energy is increasingly being produced by coal and gas, and so it is expensive.Electricity produced by water (hydroelectricity) is much cheaper, but we do not have enough dams for enhancing (increasing ) its production. So,in the present situation, not only big dams like Kalabagh and Bhasha-Diamer, but also smaller dams and reservoirs are urgently required. These smaller dams will serve us well locally in water emergencies and possible wars.

Let us discuss some smaller dams that are planned to be built. The Mirani dam multipurpose project is to be launched on the dasht river in Balochistan. The Dasht river flows in the rainy season, and thus, rain water is to be stored in it. The chotiari reservoir is to be constructed in Sindh to enlarge the storage capacity of the lake for irrigation purposes. It will draw water from the Nara and Lower -canal systems. The small Storage in the Chashma barrage on the Indus has served irrigation purposes very well. It gives hopes of having similar storage arrangements under our other 18 barrages on river systems where these facilities do not exist.

We have a large number of flood-water streams in the Frontier and Punjab provinces. The underground streams in Baluchistan are no secret. Small dams and reservoirs can be constructed at convenient places to store the water of these streams. This water can later by utilised for irrigation and other purposes. At the time of Independence, the small Namal dam on the Collar Nullah in the Mianwali District was the only reservoir in the country. Why can't we build such dams now in a large number when we have greater facilities of digging and construction and more funds? The flow, fall and force of the water in some of these dams and reservoirs can help us to generate hydroelectricity at cheap rates for local use.

Now, the benefit of a military-backed strong government can be in the form of construction of big and small dams and reservoirs of water with the mutual agreement of all the provinces. In the same way, the country,s major economic issues can be resolved without caring about politics and politicians who have already damaged the country tremendously.