Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
What exactly will you do with Rs. ammounts? We all know that most of the development money needs to come from the federal government before anything can happen.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
Like everybody else, try to figure out how to spend it! On development projects. Instead of lashing out, and frothing at the mouth against one province or the other.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
Musharraf already figured it out for all of us. Didn't you hear his speech calling for "Kalabagh at all cost"? What is left for anyone else to do but froth at the mouth when they see the futrue of their land being taken away from them?
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
No answer so far? What is Sindh's budget?
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
Silly Billy, even if "mainstream" political parties (PML and PPP?) said anything against Basha the army rulers would simply ignore them and label them anti-development. The important thing here is that Sindh's majority is against large storage dams on the Indus for good reason. See my thread on wastage on the Indus.
Whether the "army rulers" (led by a Mohajir from Sindh) ignore anything is secondary, but the fact remains that no mainstream political party from Sindh has come out clearly against the Bhasha dam. I have said this many times in this thread, but no one has been able to concluslively refute this fact, hence the argument that Sindhi people oppose the Bhasha dam has absolutely no merit whatsoever.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
So you are ready the gauge the feeling of Sindh through what a political party like PPP says, but nto parties like STPP, AT, JSQM, SNP etc? Politicians are the same everywhere and PPP being a national party cannot afford to be overly Sindh centric. Benazir is interested in getting back to power, nothing else.
But you keep ignoring the fact that Dams are against the interests of Sindh. Just come out and admit that Sindh is expendable as long as other regions of Pakistan can prosper.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
Sindh’s budget is around Rs 96 bn, and most of it is spent on govnt employee salaries, payment to rangers and FC stationed in Sindh, construction of flyovers etc. The little that the hapless Sindh irrigation dept gets is sued for some lining of canals. But all that will amount to nothing when the amount of water being released downstream is so little. That money being spent on Basha would be far better spent on fixing Pakistan’s irrigation system.
If Sindh had control over its own finances, it could make decisions in its interest. And if all provinces were equal, Kalabagh project would be abandoned long ago. And if water sharing was equal, Sindh’s delta region would not be suffering and Sindh would even support Basha wholeheartedly.
But all these are “what if” scenarios. The reality is that Sindh’s agricultural land is decreasing and Punjab’s is increasing.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
But you keep ignoring the fact that Dams are against the interests of Sindh. Just come out and admit that Sindh is expendable as long as other regions of Pakistan can prosper.
It is the PPP, MQM, PML and JI that win the votes of the people of Sindh, while the likes of the JQSM can barely manage to win one seat in the provincial assembly - when they are at their peak. May I also remind you the Jeay Sindh lot also wanted to drown all Mohajirs in the Indus not too long ago, and you putting these people forward as the representatives of the Sindhi people.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
JSQM and MQM also joined forces for some time. Need I remind you of the corruption of PPP and PML, and the jihadi ties of JI? Many parties will do anything for political expediency, but the real opinions can be heard from Sindhi farmers who protest every now and then.
But even if you are not willing to listen to the smaller groups and parties, can you deny the agriculture situation in Sindh? Why are you so quiet on those facts? This is a serious issue, yet I have not seen one Punjabi or pro Army person condemn Musharraf's insidious remarks on Kalabagh. Even if you agree with Basha dam since its negatives are slightly less than Kalabagh (and both NWFP and Punjab support it), how can anyone agree to KBD with a clear conscience?
Shouldn't Punjab, being the major power in Pakistan, be accommodating rather then arrogant and inflexible? I constantly hear Punjabis saying that they care more about Pakistan than their own province, yet when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they will defend Punjab to the end over something which is in the national interest of Pakistan. And KBD is against the national interest of Pakistan.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
No Siree! My UP community takes the feather in that claim. We are the ones who founded, nurtured, expanded, and defended Pakistan.
According to my community, Punjabis were also rans, and Sindhis have no right to even exist in Urban Sindh.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
Silly Billy conveniently overrules the fact that unanimous resolutions have been passed by Sindh Assembly against building any Reservoirs on Indus. What is more important, statements of political parties or legislation?
Whoever brings in the issue of who earns what and gets what is pathetically mistaken that Sindh is a beggar province. 68% of Federal Revenues are generated or to put it more clearly earned by Sindh and in return it gets 28% from the divisible pool. Dragging in budgetary issues here would not be right as this thread deals with water issues.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
68% of income tax revenue and not "federal revenue", is collected in Karachi. By your logic all that should be available to Karachi then? May be my UP community does have a point against rural Sindh.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
And where do you think Sales Tax, Import Duty etc are collected? this 68% is total revenue figure put forward by the government of Sindh in its case for revising NFC Formula. Your UP community gets enough. Out of the Sindh’s Provincial Budget, Karachi and Hyderabad get the lions share…I dont recall the exact figure now but it surely is above 65%.
By the way Mr. antiobl you and your fellows toe the same line i.e. to distract the discussion. This thread is not on budgetary matters, I already have said. The reason I gave reference to it was in response to someone who referred to Sindh as a Beggar province. Failure to respond to it would have treated by him as acceptance to what he had opined.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
This thread is about the Bhasha dam, and to date you have utterly failed to produce any evidence that any mainstream political party or personality has come out in opposition to it. Not from Sindh, NWFP or elsewhere.
Mohajir-hating fringe parties who barely manage to win a seat in the Sindh assembly don't count as serious voices of Sindh, and you bringing forward these people shows the bankruptcy of your argument.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
What do 7 unanimous resolutions against dams mean to you? If you want to see bankruptcy of an argument, listen to Musharraf's speeches on dams and then look at the real situation in Sindh.
You are free to reply in my water wastage thread.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
So as yet you have failed to bring forward any statement from any major political party (PPP, MQM, PML or JI) or personality in Sindh which has opposed President Musharraf's inauguration of work on the Bhasha dam.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
Anyone who says there is no issue in the distribution system should update hismelf. Here is the story that daily Dawn carries in today’s issue. It was carried by the local Sindhi papers yesterday. One thing more: Mr. Altaf who was sent for fact finding mission has reported back to Irrigation department that water being discharged from several canals below Tanusa Barriage is much more than the agreed share hence its a clear case of water theft.
Water shortage hits crops in Sindh
By Shamim Shamsi
SUKKUR, May 5: The severe water shortage at three barrages of Sindh is getting worse with every passing day as the shortage has reached 56 per cent at Sukkur and Guddu barrages.
There is about 75 per cent shortage at the Kotri barrage from where no water is being released below Kotri.
Experts fear that the shortage would be a severe blow to the agriculture economy of Sindh as most important crops of the Kharif season — cotton, paddy and sugarcane — were being delayed.
They told Dawn on Friday that Irsa and the federal government had been ignoring repeated demands of Sindh to implement the 1991 water accord.
They said Punjab was continuously drawing water from different canals due to which Sindh was getting 56 per cent less water from its due share.
Sources claimed that according to the 91 water accord there should be 12,000 cusecs water at Kotri in early May while there was only 2,900 cusecs water.
In the wake of 56 per cent water shortage in Sindh, sowing of Kharif crops would be affected badly and target fixed for them could not be achieved.
Irrigation sources said that at present, 40 per cent water shortage was prevailing in Sindh and 55,000 cusecs water released from Chasma on April 30 had not reached the Taunsa barrage.
Sources in the Sindh irrigation department said that canals of the Sukkur barrage — Rice, Khirthar and Dadu — and three canals of Guddu barrage could not be reopened because water released from Chasma had not yet entered Sindh.
At present, 46,000 cusecs water is being released from Chasma on the daily basis but it is not reaching Sindh.
In this connection, a team of discharge observation cell has reached the Taunsa barrage from Lahore to monitor the water discharge.
The team, headed by executive engineer Altaf Ahmed, would also ascertain the reason that why the water released from Chasma was not reaching Taunsa.
FRIDAY’S TALLY: Up and downstream water at the Guddu barrage was recorded at 35,600 cusecs.
The Sukkur barrage upstream was 26,400 cusecs and it was 5,600 cusecs downstream. The Kotri upstream was 2,900 cusecs.
No water is being released below Kotri.
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
NWFP government eager to work with all interested parties for Bhasha dam.
NWFP may accept NAs’ share in Basha dam royalty
The NWFP government may agree to accept the share of Northern Areas (NAs) in the royalty of proposed Basha dam and the provincial government and the NAs would get the share on the basis of area to be covered by the storage, a senior government official told the Daily Times on Thursday. “The larger the area under the water storage, the more the share in royalty of the project any of the two will be getting. The proposal is under consideration of the government,” said the official. However, he remained tightlipped whether or not this new formula would require a constitutional amendment, as under the present rules, getting royalty is the right of the federating unit where the powerhouse of reservoirs is built.
NWFP Senior Minister and Minister of Finance Sirajul Haq, when contacted, admitted that this could be one of the possible options for resolving the issue of Basha royalty, as it could create problems between the people of Frontier and the NAs who have divergent claims on the royalty. Some technical experts believe that the issue of royalty of the proposed projects should not be politicized for it will take a very long period to entitle either the NWFP or the NAs to claim royalty. The construction cost of the project and the laying of transmission line will take long to give returns to the government. “Neither the NWFP nor the NAs can claim the royalty unless and until the proposed dam starts giving returns,” one expert said. The construction cost of the dam, officially called Diamer-Basha Dam, has been estimated at $6.5 billion. The dam would generate 4,500 megawatts of electricity. The experts said the Basha is essentially a power project. But it offers a unique kind of storage and water availability. The water of Tarbela dam is released into the Indus and it is distributed from Chashma. The same will be done with the water of Basha, the experts said. The official was of the view that Pakistan needed more and more water reservoirs, including Kalabagh dam. The royalty issue should not be made an obstacle to the construction of new water and power projects, he said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\05\25\story_25-5-2006_pg5_9
Re: President Musharraf opens work on Diamer-Basha Dam
Isnt the bottom line simply that the majority of provinces are against the dams? The debate should end there... In the end, we sink or float together.