Should Pakistan build Kalabagh dam to overcome electrical issues

[ice_man]

Yeah, Sindh will get drier, KP will get soggier, both don't want that.

says who ANP,MQM & PPP????


sindh will get drier if the water is stopped!! which my friend CANNOT BE DONE!! its dumb & insiane to assume that PUNJAB can stop the water!! firstly if it stops more than it needs punjab will be flooded!!

secondly punjab is willing to sign an agreement that it will use the specific amount of water NOT MORE NOT LESS!!

as for NWFP yes NOWSHERE will be flooded!! but weren't cities flooded when they made MANGLA OR TARBELA DAMS???

when the chinese built 3 gorges dam weren't people evacuated??

recently when Pakistan made GHAZI-BAROTHA hydel power project weren't people affected?? people will always be affected!!! you just need to ensure they get proper benefits......


SO THIS DRAMA OF KALABAGH IS JUST A POLITICAL DRAMA!!!!!

 

[Icarus]

yup....you will also have your much needed water.....

But for the initial stages of the project, Sindh will have to make do with very little available water, which will be near impossible.

 

[Icarus]

says who ANP,MQM & PPP????


sindh will get drier if the water is stopped!! which my friend CANNOT BE DONE!! its dumb & insiane to assume that PUNJAB can stop the water!! firstly if it stops more than it needs punjab will be flooded!!

secondly punjab is willing to sign an agreement that it will use the specific amount of water NOT MORE NOT LESS!!

as for NWFP yes NOWSHERE will be flooded!! but weren't cities flooded when they made MANGLA OR TARBELA DAMS???

when the chinese built 3 gorges dam weren't people evacuated??

recently when Pakistan made GHAZI-BAROTHA hydel power project weren't people affected?? people will always be affected!!! you just need to ensure they get proper benefits......


SO THIS DRAMA OF KALABAGH IS JUST A POLITICAL DRAMA!!!!!

I realize it is but the problem is that we have to respect all the communities in this federation and we cannot go ahead with the project unless they all agree that we should.
As for Sindh getting drier, that is for the initial stages of the project, the time taken for the Dam to fill up and later, whenever the level of water in the dam drops, the water will be regulated to minimize loss.
That's what they disagree with.
And the Pakhtuns will never leave Nowshera, we can compromise but for the Pathans, their land is sacred since their ancestors fought for the land on which they live, it was not bought.

 

[Hyde]

I realize it is but the problem is that we have to respect all the communities in this federation and we cannot go ahead with the project unless they all agree that we should.
As for Sindh getting drier, that is for the initial stages of the project, the time taken for the Dam to fill up and later, whenever the level of water in the dam drops, the water will be regulated to minimize loss.
That's what they disagree with.
And the Pakhtuns will never leave Nowshera, we can compromise but for the Pathans, their land is sacred since their ancestors fought for the land on which they live, it was not bought.

i heard nowshera is 120 kilometers away from the dam project

Thats just another political slogan. Nothing is going to happen to nowshera as we all know

 

[sparklingway]

Kalabagh Dam = Even smaller flow for River Indus = More destruction of Mangroves in Sindh = More Erosion and destroyed birdlife

Run of the river dams of medium size are required. Dams are a very old system to rely for on irrigation and generation purposes. Our people are stuck in the '60s and are awestruck by the dams but do not realize that they have been/are being abandoned the world over because of the adverse effects and with quite a lot of upstream dams already, another one will be the nail in the coffin.

Run of the river dams are required, not storage ones.

For those arguing that a statesmen would definitely take such a decision, Kalabagh is a problem besides its political implications. As most people do not even realize in their day to day discussion how water starvation will destroy the mangroves (and already has) and what effect that will have on the whole region surrounding the mouth of the Indus, they seem to make it just a political discussion.

Go sometimes into interior Sindh and people will tell you folk stories of the "might river Sindha". The Sindha in their folk tales has become angry and much of it has gone underground and will only come out if humans toil for it. Besides the folk story, the reality is that Indus has shrunk a lot and occasional flooding destroys the whole region as well. IRSA has never been able to resolve a Sindh-Punjab water row. Anybody who reads the newspapers would have come across their inability to resolve the water row over the past two years as well. Hence Sindh does not trust IRSA to be able to give Sindh its fair share of water especially since Kalabagh will reduce river flow and hence storage sites in their region.

The political sloganeering is at times indeed very counter productive and unnecessary, but it is not unfounded.

Stop dreaming of big dams. We need better localized water storage, better groundwater protection, run of the river generation and distribution.

 

[sparklingway]

i heard nowshera is 120 kilometers away from the dam project

Thats just another political slogan. Nothing is going to happen to nowshera as we all know

They talk about surrounding villages not Nowshera city per se. The area will witness a very sharp rise in groundwater level. The political sloganeering has been exaggerated but it is not entirely wrong.

I happen to have listened to a Badin Nazim saying that Kalabagh Dam will take out the water's "property" to irrigate the lands of the people. People were like "yeah he's right, water will be useless then". Hence they started chanting "No Kalabagh" stuff.

 

[Icarus]

i heard nowshera is 120 kilometers away from the dam project

Thats just another political slogan. Nothing is going to happen to nowshera as we all know

I know, it has something to do with the surrounding areas, sub soil water level rising and broadening of the river kabul.

 

[jha]

Kalabagh Dam will take out the water's "property" to irrigate the lands of the people. People were like "yeah he's right, water will be useless then". Hence they started chanting "No Kalabagh" stuff.

Man this is classic...
Just like the SHOOL..just electricity replaced by Irrigation property..

 

[Hyde]

Run of the river dams of medium size are required. Dams are a very old system to rely for on irrigation and generation purposes. Our people are stuck in the '60s and are awestruck by the dams but do not realize that they have been/are being abandoned the world over because of the adverse effects and with quite a lot of upstream dams already, another one will be the nail in the coffin.

Run of the river dams are required, not storage ones.

wrong that it has become an old system and abondened world over. If that was the case then why powerful countries like China, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada even USA busy building new dams?

The reason why europe does not have large dams is they do not irrigate their lands. They usually import food producsts from South Africa and South Asia. Agriculture plays a key role in our country's economy and any agricultural country you see is relying upon large dams.

I agree we need medium dams too but at the same time large dams will be very much cost effective. They are far cheaper when it comes to money saving. If foreign investors are willing to invest we must go for it

 

[sparklingway]

wrong that it has become an old system and abondened world over. If that was the case then why powerful countries like China, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada even USA busy building new dams?

Only China is relentlessly pursuing dams while the others are maintaining a very precarious balance between the impact and the benefits. Nobody is vouching for massive dams that destroy the environment downstream. US, Brazil, Malaysia and Argentina have a completely different geography from us. The theory on dam assessment is very much on the negative since the '70s. India can construct dams since the places where it constructing aren't impacting its environment, we will bear the costs. Riverflow and agricultural production are vastly different in our case than in US or Canada.

We can only construct upstream dams which are destroying the mangroves and desertification in Sindh is increasing. The environmental impact for us in the case of Kalabagh is too big to bear.

The reason why europe does not have large dams is they do not irrigate their lands. They usually import food producsts from South Africa and South Asia. Agriculture plays a key role in our country's economy and any agricultural country you see is relying upon large dams.

I was talking about the general technical consensus rather than construction in practical terms.

 

[mikkix]

I still dont believe that why this issue arises again,, if it is good then it should be built..I personaly feals that it is good for the country...
Musharaf rules 9 years, zia rules 11 years and Ayub rules 10 years, Bhutto got 2/3 vote and nawaz also got that,,,,,they didnt built in their era of power...
PML Q and PML N stop that nonsense cause they are doing politics in it... They could do that when they are in power but..........

 

[apophenia]

sindh will get drier if the water is stopped!! which my friend CANNOT BE DONE!! its dumb & insiane to assume that PUNJAB can stop the water!! firstly if it stops more than it needs punjab will be flooded!!

secondly punjab is willing to sign an agreement that it will use the specific amount of water NOT MORE NOT LESS!!

That agreement will be unless considering the studies that have been carried out and established that Kalabagh reservoir will have enough water once in five years and to cover the short fall provisions will be made which will be in violation of the water accord or Kalabagh will be lie underutilized

large dams will be very much cost effective. They are far cheaper when it comes to money saving. If foreign investors are willing to invest we must go for it

Foreign or private sector funding does not come cheap. IMF or ADB might not offer any funding because of their support of private energy producers and reluctance to finance any project with negative environmental outcomes. If capital of the KBD construction cannot be obtained at heavily subsidized interest rated then every benefit associated with it will be expensive.

 

[aakalim]

Most developed contries are not going for big dams because they have already utilised most of their storage and power generation potential.

The dams of the Colorado and Murray-Darling Rivers for instance can hold 900 days of river runoff. South Africa can store 500 days in its Orange River, and India between 120 and 220 days in its major rivers. By contrast, Pakistan can barely store 30 days of water in the Indus basin.

The problem with Pakistan is that we have signed the Indus Basin Treaty with India which gives two of its major rivers, ie Sutluj and Beas to India. So we were bound to have less water, hence Mangla and Tarbela were built. But it was clear even at that time that construction of these two dams that these were not the final solution beacause high silt load from himalayas meant that effective storage would decline over time and that it was necessary to build further storages to replace this loss.

Will new dams effect the environment adversely..?..yes they will..but these environmental(and social) impact are manageable....it can be argued that the benefits these large dams bring far outweigh their harms, specially for a country like Pakistan, which is both water stressed and energy starved.

As far as small dams are concerned, they certainly would help, but cannot replace the need for large dams, they can only supplement them.

 

[MZUBAIR]

PM ko aqal agae

 

[M K Sial]

Considering the recent Electricity crisis in Pakistan, would you guyz support the construction of Kalabagh Dam. Support your opinion with reasons and useful suggestions. Be reminded that the construction could help Pakistan alot to fulfill electricity needs, as well as can result in providing and enhance more job oppertunities and can result a fair boost in economy.

Production of electricity from Hydel is just like 10 per cent in the world whereas from coal is 45 per cent. We have gigantic Thar coal deposits in Sindh better for 800 (eight centuries) to meet our fuel requirements as mentioned by our atomic scientist Dr Samar. But Punjab and notorious WAPDA are not allowing to use Thar coal in order to get justification for building Kalabagh dam in Punjab.

Cheap electricity can be obtained from Solar system, air and also sea water. The song of Kalabagh dam is being sung to control water of Sindh. If they are sincere to Pakistan, why they are not releasing 10MAF water envisaged in Water Accord - 1991 after 19 years of signing it resulting in ruination of Indus delta - the sixth largest in the world. mass migration of one million people, tremendous increase in poverty and unemployment in area, sea intrusion inundating 2.6 million acres of land, ruination of eco-system and environmental hazard. Is Indus delta not part of Pakistan? SAY NO TO KALABAGH DAM..........SAVE INDUS DELTA.....SAVE PAKISTAN.