Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the construction of new dams will be made with the consensus of all provinces.
Chairing a meeting on water resources and storage in Islamabad on Thursday, he said construction of undisputed reservoirs will be completed on a priority basis.
The Prime Minister stressed that the Federal Government, provinces, and all federal units must work together to build new water reservoirs in the country.
Shehbaz Sharif said India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is a violation of the treaty and an act of water aggression. He emphasized that Pakistan will respond to India’s water aggression based on the decisions made in the National Security Committee meeting held on April this year and expressed confidence that Pakistan will emerge victorious.
During the meeting, a comprehensive discussion took place regarding the strategy for constructing new dams to store water in the country.
The Chief Ministers of all four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir unanimously condemned India’s water aggression and reaffirmed their commitment to stand with the Federal Government.
On the occasion, the federal and provincial governments pledged to ensure water security like “Bunyan-um-Marsoos”.
The Prime Minister ordered the formation of a committee under Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar regarding the construction and funding of new water reservoirs in the country. The committee will review various funding strategies for construction of new dams and present its recommendations to the Prime Minister.
The committee will include the Chief Ministers of all provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and relevant federal ministers.
The Prime Minister directed the committee to submit a report within 72 hours.
The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the country’s water resources and rivers. It was informed that construction on the Diamer-Bhasha Dam is underway and is expected to be completed by 2032, while the Mohmand Dam is likely to be completed by 2027.
It was apprised that at present there are eleven dams in the country with a total water storage capacity of 15.318 million acre-feet. It was further said that under the Public Sector Development Program, 32 dams are under construction, while 79 water reservoirs are being built under the Annual Development Program.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engineer Amir Muqam, Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Minister for Water Resources Mueen Watto and Prime Minister’s Advisor Dr Tauqir Shah.
Besides, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, Prime Minister Azad Kashmir Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq, Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Gulbar Khan, Minister of State for Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani, chief secretaries of all the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir also attended the meeting.
