We will make every effort for the construction of Kalabagh dam:Ch Pervaiz Elahi

Lahore: Pakistan Muslim League (PML) senior central leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi has said that our party gives preference to the interests of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province on everything, we will try to remove reservations and misgivings of ANP leadership and other provinces over Kalabagh dam and will also go to them in this regard. We and our party are totally against politics on this issue and will not allow ideal relationship to be affected which existed between Asfandyar Wali’s and our elders.

He said further in a statement issued here today that we are talking for Kalabagh dam in the interest of entire country and not just one province so that poor people of Pakistan could get electricity round the clock at Rs 3 per unit and adequate water for irrigation which would save the present land from getting barren and barren lands including Thar, Thal and Cholistan in all the four provinces would also become habited as a result of which not only poor farmer, industrial worker but also entire provinces as well as Pakistan would become prosperous.

Ch Pervaiz Elahi said that we regard children of all four province as our children and could not even think about drowning them, on the basis of various reports of international organizations and exchanging views with well-reputed international experts our part has reached the conclusion that this dam was the only and permanent solution to overcoming the two basic problems of load shedding of electricity and shortage of water for irrigation being faced by the people of all walks of life from Khyber to Karachi. He said the dame would not only generate 3600 megawatt of power but also provide additional 22 lakhs acres of water to Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, 40 lakhs to Sindh, 20 lakhs to Punjab and another 15 lakhs acres of water to Balochistan for irrigation purposes besides would also help in getting rid of destruction caused every year through heavy floods which had caused 30 billion dollars only in last four years to the national economy whereas present cost estimates for construction of Kalabagh dam were just 9 billion dollars and 3500 people would also have been saved which had been swallowed by floods.

Ch Pervaiz Elahi further stated that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Waziristan were facing the hardships of weather away from their houses for entire Pakistan, these great sacrifices of theirs were for the nation and the country and it was the duty of every Pakistani to make practical efforts for pulling them out of these difficulties.