A Case Against Kalabagh Dam

The bottomline is like or not Sind and Balochistan will never agree on whatever Punjab says - we can`t trust them ( Punjabi Establishment ) - be it Sui , Gawader , Badin or Karachi - we are victums of Punjabi Establishment which for Punjab Intrest thinks Pakistan is Punjab -

Kalabagh is a good project and is in national intrest of Pakistan - thats what we in ( Sind , Baluchistan and NWFP ) thinks but we in Sind , Baluchistan atleast somehow don`t trust Punjab . We believe that Punjab will control our water - they would have the control on our waters whatever we get .
Mushraff Sahib is trying to build confidence and our answer to President Sahib is we could somehow agree if there are some guarantee`s - and Punjab withdraws from her stand on NFC Awards - to my knowledge there is negociations going on now on Kalabagh between
a) MQM and Government
b) Government and some PPP Members ..
c) Government and Concerned Parties in N.W.F.P ..

Reactionto response#1,2

The die is already cast.General has openly said it will be built, it will be built. Indus is Nallah beyond Kotri Barrage. See old bridges built by british look at wrong places as Indus is dry.
Thal Canal was opposed by minority provinces. It is being built. It is supposed to run few months, we know it will be 12 month canal. Chasma Canal was supposed to carry only small amout. Sindh burns in summer and mentioned Canal carries water. Hope its not beginning of some thing. Agartala case was started and left and damaged was done. It is not true but perception in B/Stan and Sindh is all is done in PK at cost of them. Scratch any Sindhi he is anti Punjabi. I feel there many illusions regarding exploitation of Sindh. Unfortunately most of times illusions are powerful than truth. Sindh can be easily controlled as Karachi MQM rulers will do anything for Uncle P. Same way B.Stan is warned by General and nothing much can be done by B.stan or Sindh. Whatever is done as Its not elected peoples decision but idea of generals and his assistant servant PM S.A. can say any thing but it will be decision of General. Nothing can be done as General will be still there around 2007. Discussion is useless unfortunately.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

Norejo

I agree. This is no more a technical issue. It is a political issue. And politics are more important than technicalities.

If the Dam is built without the willing consensus of smaller provinces, it will be disastrous. The Fauji mind looks only at black-and-white aspects ignoring the public perceptions, feelings, thoughts.

Ayub alientated East Pakistan. Yahya did the final act. Zia disrupted the society with his convoluted perceptions. This may be the biggest damage Mussharraf may end up doing - an irreversible one. (like the state of our provinicial autonomy)

There are many other places for Dams. We need to listen to the voices of smaller provinces.

nhk

Norejo

I agree. This is no more a technical issue. It is a political issue. And politics are more important than technicalities.

If the Dam is built without the willing consensus of smaller provinces, it will be disastrous. The Fauji mind looks only at black-and-white aspects ignoring the public perceptions, feelings, thoughts.

Ayub alientated East Pakistan. Yahya did the final act. Zia disrupted the society with his convoluted perceptions. This may be the biggest damage Mussharraf may end up doing - an irreversible one. (like the state of our provinicial autonomy)

There are many other places for Dams. We need to listen to the voices of smaller provinces.

nhk

You have outlined the case against kalabagh dam really well....what I would like to read is the case for it....anyone?

Habib Jalib said,
yeh na mera Pakistan hai , na tera Pakistan hai ,
yeh uss ka Pakistan hai , jo Sadar-e-Pakistan hai ..

If Islamabad and Punjab ( same thing ) continue what they are usually doing then the map of Pakistan will be quite different in 10 years time where Land of Pure will be Punjab - and the rest of remaining Pakistan will be Pakistan .

If Government of Pakistan ( Government of Feudrals , Genrals , Punjabis ) ignore us in Sind , Balochistan - and go ahead with the plans of Kalabagh Dam , I will be the first person to bomb the dam . I support Sardar Muree a brave soldier whos fighting for the basic rights - We in Sind and Balochistan are not against Pakistan we are against officals of a province which is somehow ignoring every other province . We in Balochistan are fighting not for liberating our land from the state of Pakistan but we are fighting for our rights and a fair financing . Either its MQM , Mushraff , Jamali or Bhugtti anyone who puts there intrest first and ignore the intrest of Balochistan and Sind - will face his / her fate ..

Kindly spend at least as much time as you have taken in collecting arguments against construction of kalabagh dam and give me a single alternative. As I have mentioned many times it is easy to oppose a given solution it is most difficult to suggest an alternative. People who have suggested this solution have spent lot more able and valuable hours than the respected author to work out alternatives and even then considering kalabagh dam feasable.

fnahmad@gmail.com

Forget Dam. It would be a miracle now if fauji fukks could keep this country intact.:

It would have been better, if Narejo has also presented other side’s argument too and there are many to counter the ones Narejo presented.
Dams big and small are an absolute necessity for water and power supply. Most major US cities have some Dams somewhere to supply water. Nuke plants are now pretty much non available for the third world countries like Pakistan and the only viable option is to build dams to cater for the growing need of water and Power. The argument that bigger dams are out is not true either. India and China both are building bigger dams, as bigger dams are cost effective for countries like Pak, India and China.

The opposition to Kalabagh dam is actually political and that has been going on for more than two decades.
Sindhi Nationalist first voiced their opposition just to despise Punjabi establishment initially. There were no viable arguments against the Dam except that it was going to help Punjab more. Since I knew most of them personally, I feel that Sindhi nationalist have basically politicalised this issue and really they don’t have any overwhelming argument to oppose the Dam. Most of them had no background in the technical or the ecological aspect of the dam. Their opposition was mere negativity and then this opposition caught on the Sindhi nationalist imagination.
I have also followed debates on this, mostly one sided, in Kawish and Ibrat. I knew some engineers that wrote those articles too and whenever I confronted them with their illogical technical arguments, they told me I have become a Punjabi after moving to the USA!

Every Dam creates some ecological issues and displacement of population. There is no doubt that some people would be discomforted but what percentage of the population they are and if they are adequately compensated for their dislocation than what seems to the problem there?
In Pakistan, there just not enough viable geographical locations where Dams can be build without shifting the population around. You cannot find locations like Hoover dam in every country.

The crux of the Sindhi agitation against the Dam is:

“If the dam is built there will not be any water available for downstream Kotri in the future. As a result the Delta and the Katcha areas in Sindh will be destroyed and the sea intrusion will cause annual losses of billions of rupees to the Sindh economy.”

I have traveled Sujawal, Badin, Katcha areas and it is a legit concern that sea would intrude more into those areas. But how much water river Indus has now at the end of its run. Not much! So the Sea is already intruded as for as it could. What kind of production are we talking about from those areas and what population would be impacted? From TM Khan to Sujawal used to a barren and water logged area and only drains helped brought some land into cultivation. Later water form some canals from the GM Barrage helped them. Still, beyond Sujawal nothing is produced that should be of major concern to anybody. Mostly Mohanas (fishermen) live in Katcha area and they too are very limited in number. The Sujawal Bridge on the way to Thatta would tell the story of miles and miles of barren lands that have not been used in centuries.
I must also admit that I have not visited that area in about 20 years now. There may be worsening of the situation rather than any improvement.
I am always of the opinion that this Dam would help upper Sindh(more fertile area of Sindh)more than any other province. The most affected province would be NWFP and there is no significant opposition to the KB DAM there.

Urstruly #11

Nawab Akbar Bugti has dozens of reasons for making (false) allegations of gang-rape against officials of DSG. During the 1990s, the MQM frequently used such rape accusations for political mileage. During Benazir`s govt, the MQM alleged that a PPP MNA from Karachi and his sector incharge gang-raped Farzana, the sister of an MQM worker. The PPP govt challenged this claim and offered free medical examination of Farzana by any European or American doctor. The MQM decided to further politicize this matter by claiming that PPP was insulting the integrity of Pakistani doctors.

Whether Dr. Shazia was raped by DSG officers, Baloch nationalists, or just a bunch of perverts can only be determined after the investigations are complete. But one thing is for sure: Nawab Akbar Bugti certainly wasted no time in making political capital out of this incident.

Before rushing to judgements, think about who gains most from such incidents. The real enemy is not inside Pakistan. Beware of that enemy which considers the very existence of Pakistan as a slap on its face and a prick to its bloated ego.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

The first article was published by the Pakistan and Gulf Economist magazine in their July 24-30, 2000 issue:

THE IMPORTANCE OF KALABAGH DAM: By the year 2009 or 2010 Pakistan will have a water short fall of over 6 million acre feet
by Shamim Ahmed Rizvi

The Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf initiated the process of developing a national consensus on the construction of Kalabagh Dam when he personally presented before a gathering of Sindh newspapers editors, generally hostile to the dam, how important it was for the national economy to start work on the dam and how any further delay in its construction would be an invitation to a disaster for the country in the near future.

The Chief Executive warned against the perils of depleting water reservoirs and the need for construction of not only Kalabagh Dam but many other dams to meet the future water requirements of the country specially of the Sindh Province. Pointing out that our existing dams are depleting, Gen. Musharraf informed the editors of Daily Sindhi Newspaper coming out from Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur that by the year 2009 or 2010 Pakistan will have a water short fall of over six million acre feet which is equal to water stored in Mangla Dam and this shortage will continue to increase with every passing year and the biggest sufferer will be the province of Sindh. He said the depleting capacity of the existing water reservoirs call for at least one dam like Kalabagh, Bhasha or Bunji every 10 years. We have been neglecting this dire requirement and did not construct any new dam during the last 30 years and the country is today suffering for this criminal neglect in the form of drought and acute water shortage throughout the country specially Sindh and Balochistan. He explained that Punjab Province has plenty of sweet sub soil water and in case of shortage it can meet its requirement by sinking more tubwells. But Sindh has brackish sub soil water which cannot be used for irrigation purposes. The water shortage in province will be much more acute in the coming years and this disaster can be averted only by undertaking construction of new dams on warfooting, he added.

General Pervez Musharraf was right when he said that big dams take a long time to build, and that even the feasibility study for a major dam can take several years. He was also right when he said that Pakistan urgently needs to build more dams to boost the country`s water-storage capacity, citing the example of Turkey which has built 40 dams on the Tigris River and other rivers over the last five decades, while Pakistan, during the same period, has built only two. Mangla Dam on the River of Jhelum (completed in 1968) and Tarbela Dam on the River Indus (completed in 1974). He said ``If we take a decision right now to go ahead with the construction of a dam, it will be completed in the year 2010, by which time the water shortage in the country will rise to 6 million acre-feet, and by the year 2014 or 2015 the shortage will go up to 8 million to 10 million acre-feet. ``Would it not be stupidity if we keep losing our water and our people keep longing for it. Do we want to give our people a concept that they should go on longing for water,`` Gen. Musharraf rightly posed a question.

The feasibility study of Kalabagh Dam was prepared long ago and lot of preliminary work has already been done on the project. Its construction can be started in few months hoping to complete it by 2009/2010. In the meanwhile work on feasibilities of Bhasha and Nunji should be taken in hand with a plan of action to start work on these two dams in 2005, and 2010 and completing by 2015 and 2020 respectively. If we want to meet the water requirements of next fifty years, we will have to build all these dams besides identifying new sites, he added.

The Kalabagh Dam has become an absolute necessity for the country and delaying or abandoning its construction would be an invitation to a disaster. The water situation has become precarious and the provinces are going to each other throat over the issue of water supply. Pakistan is one of the unfortunate country which has not built a major dam in the last three decades. No wonder, today the country is facing a serious water crisis. Millions and millions of rupees have been spent on the feasibility report of the Dam, alterations have been made in the plan to remove the apprehensions of those who have opposed it for one reason or the other, but all these have proved futile exercises and the project has not moved an inch forward. The unnecessary politicisation of the issue has been the major hurdle. However, it would be advisable for the Chief Executive to allay the genuine fears, if any, of the critics of the Dam. It would be suicidal to let the Dam become victim of a political controversy. Those who are using the issue as a political ploy to do politicking are advised not to do so as it amounts to playing with the destiny of the country. The government would not find it easy to build up a consensus on the issue. They need to muster support of politicians who matter. And it would require patience, imagination, good sense and finally power of persuasion. It is good that the Chief Executive has already initiated a process of dialogue with the politicians. The governors should also become a part of it at their level. Secondly, the opponents of the project have become allergic to the name of Kalabagh Dam. There is a lot of merit in Imran Khan`s suggestion to change the name of the Dam to Indus Channel. Apparently this may appear a gimmick, but surrounded by a peculiar political controversy as Kalabagh Dam is, this gimmick may deliver, as it could provide a way out to those staunch opponents who had gone too far in their opposition of Kalabagh Dam, but would accept it if given another nomenclature.

Alternatively let a national conference of all our leading water and power experts be called by the Chief Executive. Let the experts go over every aspect of the proposed dam and let them arrive at a clear decisions: yes or no. The deliberations of this conference should be held away from the glare of publicity so that there is no playing to the gallery. After the experts arrive at a decision it should be presented to the government and made public at the same time. And then let us have the wisdom and courage to abide by the considered opinion of the experts. If they conclude that the Kalabagh Dam is imperative for the good of the country, then work on the project should begin without the fear of any adverse reaction. If, on the other hand, the experts deliver a negative answer, let the feasibility study be buried without any tears being shed over it. Further shilly-shallying on this issue we cannot afford. Let us get a clear answer and then stick to it.

It would be a great achievement of Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his colleagues if they could make a breakthrough on this explosive issue. If they do it, they would not only carve out a name for themselves in the history of the country, but also win the abiding gratitude of the nation.

The Pakistan and Gulf Economist magazine addressed this issue in two articles. I am posting the most recent one (published in the Oct 6-12, 2003 issue):

THE ISSUE OF KALABAGH DAM: Need to develop consensus
by Syed Muhammad Aslam

Should Kalabagh Dam be built? It is extremely expensive, offer limited benefits, have short life, is rejected by three of the four provinces and was shelved three years ago by the former federal cabinet of the President Pervez Musharraf who has recently vowed to go along with the plan.

One of the most important prerequisite for the construction of a mega dam like Kalabagh is the adequate and reliable availability of water and one of the top criteria for it is that it must have water four years out of five. Critics of the dam in the engineering sector say that Kalabagh does not fulfil this extremely essential criterion. They also say that the figures presented by the WAPDA about the availability of water is misleading because it basis it on the quantity of water whose roots are in India and thus unreliable.

Critics also say that the life of dam is too short and its cost too exorbitant to make it a highly uneconomical project. They say that the life of the dam is only 28 years once Tarbela silts because it is located downstream of Tarbela. In addition, since it is downstream, Kalabagh would in no way be able to improve Tarbela`s life-expectancy. In addition, the Kalabagh has the lowest capacity inflow ratio in the world — 0.26:1 once again resulting in short life span.

Professionals among the engineering community also say that Kalabagh is an unfeasible project geographically. They say that it has unnatural dam site — narrow valley for storage and a long length and would allow to waste flood water without storing it to avoid desilting. It would store perennial water flaring up water disputes between the provinces and the storing perennial water, for power generation would affect the availability of irrigation water to crops, particularly to the lower regions of the country. Power generation by storing perennial water can affect timely irrigation which can have a disastrous impact on agrarian economy like Pakistan.

The strong opposition to the construction of Kalabagh Dam, however, in no way lessens the problem related to the scarcity of irrigation water in the country which becomes extremely severe at times due to extended dry spells in the last few years. For instance Tarbela Dam did not fill up till August 31, 2000 for the first time since its commissioning in 1974 falling short by 15 to 16 feet from its maximum level of 1550 feet.

The meeting of the then federal cabinet which decided to shelf the Kalabagh Dam plan was held on August 30, 2000 and was attended by then Punjab governor, Lt. Gen. (retd) Muhammad Safdar, Federal Minister for Environment, Umer Asghar Khan, advisor to the Chief Executive on Agriculture and Irrigation Shafi Niaz, and Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman. It was briefed by the chairman WAPDA Lt. Gen. Zulfiqar Ali Khan during which the participants voiced the reservations of the smaller provinces on the project. The representatives of the Sindh government raised questions over the supply of irrigation schemes by WAPDA asking to wait for few more years about the project so as to maintain the national unity understanding fully well, the strong sentiments that Kalabagh evokes in their province.

The meeting of the federal cabinet ended with a direction given to the WAPDA to identify the potential sites for the construction of small dams in all the four provinces so as to enhance water reservoir storage capacity for the future. It is easy to see that there is no disagreement about the necessity to build water reservoirs but there is no consensus about Kalabagh.

HISTORY AND TECHNICALITIES

Pakistan has 3 main rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. Mangla Dam is located on the Jhelum river and Tarbela Dam on the Indus river. The absence of surplus water resource on the Jhelum river renders it incapable for housing another storage dam in addition to Mangla. On the other hand, there is no suitable site on the Chenab river where a storage dam can be built. The River Indus, thus, remains the only river with substantial water resource available to house additional storage dam, and even dams, besides Tarbela. Kalabagh is one such site which was identified along with Mangla and Tarbela.

The Kalabagh Dam is proposed to be located on the River Indus at about 120 miles downstream of Tarbela Dam, 92 miles downstream the confluence of Kabul and Indus Rivers and 16 miles upstream of the existing Jinnah Barrage. The site is a narrow and deep channel extending over 5-mile distance where the river is about 1,300 feet wide.

One of the major reason for the insistence to build a storage dam at Kalabagh is that it is the only option ready for immediate implementation supported by number of surveys and feasibility studies costing billions of rupees.

The planners and water engineers realised that storage dams are the only option to utilize the water resource of Indus river system for the future economic progress of Pakistan soon after the country gained independence in 1947. The Central Engineering Authority with the help of Dams Investigation Circle of Punjab Irrigation Department identified three sites suitable for large storage reservoirs by the early 1950s. Kalabagh along with Mangla and Tarbela was one of the three sites identified. Mangla and Tarbela were selected for Indus Basin Project while Kalabagh was earmarked for the next development programme.

In 1972, the work of preparing a proper feasibility report was assigned to Associated Consulting Engineers (Pvt) Ltd. of Pakistan. The company also appointed a board of international experts to review the progress at each stage. The experts were taken in various disciplines of dam engineering and from different countries, to benefit from a wide range of opinion in specialized fields.

The feasibility report, spread over 8 volumes, was submitted in 1975 and received a good response. Its copies were supplied to provincial governments and all other related agencies, in both government and non-government sectors. The overall reaction immediately after submission of the feasibility report was favourable. During the post-feasibility period of 1975 to 1979 reviews and consultations continued between at various bodies related to planning and the government finally took the decision that Kalabagh Project should be sponsored as a top priority project for seeking aid from international funding agencies.

Pakistan approached UNDP in 1979 for sanctioning of a grant to finance the cost of detailed engineering study of this project. It was approved by the UNDP which also nominating the World Bank as the implementing agency. The Bank sent its own appraisal mission in June 1980, who gave the approval, after a thorough scrutiny of the feasibility report and other documents and inspection of the site. They found the project ``technically sound and economically viable``. In February 1982 a joint venture under the name of ``Kalabagh Consultants` comprising of Binnie & Partners of UK, Harza Engineering Co. of USA, Mott Ewbank Preece Ltd. of UK, Associated Consulting Engineers & NESPAK of Pakistan were fielded to carry out Project Planning, Detailed Design and preparation of Contract Documents for the Project.

The new group once again reviewed the previous work done and satisfied themselves with the major parameters of the project before proceeding with the detailed project planning study. In this phase, several research type studies and investigations were undertaken to elaborate various aspects of design, construction and operation of the Project. State-of-the-art techniques using computerized methods of analysis and modelling were utilized for the studies in this stage.

During the course of engineering studies an independent Panel of Experts, was also constituted by the World Bank, to progressively review the consultants work and to advise them. Members of this panel were eminent world experts in related fields and were drawn from different countries. In addition to the panel, specialists on specific subjects were invited from time to time for giving their views on selected topics, where needed.

An independent review panel was also constituted by the Government of Pakistan consisting of eminent Pakistani engineers to review the Project Planning Report. It consisted of Engr. Manzoor Ahmed Sheikh, Engr. Asghar Ali Abidi and Engr. Shah Nawaz Khan. This panel also concurred with the Project Planning Report and supported its recommendations.

By the end of 1987, all the reviews, refinements and clarifications were incorporated in the project scheme and properly documented. With this the project was ready to be launched in the construction stage.

THE CONTROVERSY

Perhaps the single most important reason for the strong sentiments that Kalabagh project invokes is the shroud of secrecy surrounding its planning. The critics say that the mega project favoured by a single province and the secrecy surrounding the planning, designing and implementation of the project has made smaller provinces extremely suspicious. They also say that the insistence to build Kalabagh in an era when big dams have gone out of fashion globally and when other possible alternatives are available is dividing the people at a time when unity is most essential.

Critics also blamed WAPDA for creating the controversy for failing to consult the provinces at all stages of the project from planning, designing and implementation till the completion of its detail design as late as by 1985. Otherwise, what could explain the strong opposition to the Kalabagh project in the late 1980s after receiving initial good response after the submission of feasibility study in 1975?

The statements from the responsible officials of the federal government have also created confusion instead of clarifying the issue. For instance, the government of Punjab as well as WAPDA first declared Kalabagh dam as only a storage dam to offset the storage loss of Tarbela and Mangla Dams due to sedimentation. Later it was promoted as a project vital for generation of inexpensive hydel power and still later it was announced that the project would also have Left and Right Bank canals for irrigation purposes. This perpetually changing additions and the ensuing confusion helped turn the project into a controversial mess that its in today.

The lack of public disclosure of all the relevant facts regarding selection criteria, planning parameters, design guidelines, cost estimates, environmental and socio-economic assessments, government`s priorities, and financing mechanism of the planned construction have also added fuel to the fire. Also missing is the impact of the project on the human displacement in a country where tens of thousands of affectees of the other dams remain uncompensated after the passage of decades and also the concerns about the impact that would have on the environment and the surrounding areas. The situation is further complicated in a country where rows between the provinces about the equitable distribution of water despite the presence of Indus River System Authority, a high-level body constituted just this for purpose.