KP CM's Kalabagh remarks shake decades-old fault lines

LAHORE: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s endorsement of the Kalabagh Dam is a notable shift, as the project has long been a topic of intense debate among stakeholders, especially from the Sindh province.

The KP chief minister's recent statements in support of the Kalabagh Dam are unprecedented, marking the first time a prominent political leader from the province and an executive authority has openly backed this highly debated water reservoir project.

However, backing of KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur will largely remain symbolic unless he manages to muster support from his party at least.

And before being able to lend tangible support to the building of the Kalabagh Dam, he may have to get a resolution passed from the provincial assembly in favour of the project. Leaders of both Sindh and KP provinces have vehemently opposed this project for the last several decades.

Unlike Shamsul Mulk, caretaker CM of defunct NWFP, was a staunch supporter of KBD. Ghandapur enjoys strong political support in the provincial assembly. However, it will be a big challenge for him to gather support from his MPAs in this connection.

Situated along the site of Kalabagh Dam, the parched land of Southern districts of KP, known for its warmer climate, has long been facing water shortages. The proposed Kalabagh Dam could irrigate approximately 440,000 acres of land in KP through the proposed Left-Bank Canal. Gandapur belongs to Dera Ismail Khan, a city located along the banks of the Indus River in South KP, which could greatly benefit from the irrigation supplies only from the proposed KBD.

KP, known for its abundant rivers, streams, and lakes, is said to witness a groundbreaking development with the Kalabagh Dam project, enabling the first-ever large-scale diversion of river water for irrigation.

This initiative could transform the lives of locals struggling with poverty by introducing income-generating agricultural opportunities with the provision of 0.35 million acre-feet (MAF) of water for irrigation, immensely supporting farm growth. The dam would help mitigate drought risks by ensuring a consistent water supply for agriculture.

It may be noted that the KP CM has expressed strong support for the construction of the Kalabagh Dam in his back-to-back statements, emphasising its potential to revolutionise Pakistan's agriculture sector and provide significant benefits to the country.

Gandapur believes the dam is crucial for Pakistan’s future and can bring a revolution in the agriculture sector. He advocates for dialogue to address concerns and reservations about the project.

Gandapur stresses that the Kalabagh Dam can help prevent floods, provide water for irrigation, and generate cheap electricity, benefiting KP, Punjab, and Sindh provinces. He urges all provinces to work together and support the construction of the dam, emphasising that its benefits will be shared by all, and that delays have already caused significant losses.

On the other hand, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah has once again expressed his opposition to the construction of the KBD, ridiculing its advocates who emphasise the dam’s significance in the wake of recent floods. He and his party have consistently opposed dam construction in the country for various reasons.

In contrast, the approach taken by the chief minister of Sindh starkly differs from that of the province's neighbouring border states of Gujarat and Rajasthan in India, which have actively sought to utilise river water for developmental purposes.

The Indian Gujarat state government spearheaded the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, a project that sparked considerable controversy, on the Narmada River. Prior to its completion, nearly all of the river's water would flow into the delta.

However, with the dam's construction, India has successfully managed to supply water to the farthest villages in Gujarat, right up to the border with Pakistan's Sindh province, and has also redirected it to the non-riparian state of Rajasthan, which already receives water from the Eastern Rivers via a new canal for irrigating nearly one million acres of arid land. The renowned Ahmedabad River Front was also made possible through the diversion of the Narmada River.

Originally published in The News