Prime Minister Imran Khan was invited to participate as the Chief Guest at an International Symposium on Hydropower Development in Pakistan.
While speaking at the occasion the PM said that currently the main cause of inflation in Pakistan is the dependence on fuel for generation of electricity. If the price of crude oil increases in the international market, price of electricity and other things also increases in Pakistan. Consequently, the people have to bear the burden.
While emphasizing the importance of Dams in the country he said that China has constructed 5,000 dams, but Pakistan had built only two dams in 1960. “If the country would have been making electricity through water – hydropower – there would not have been inflation of this level,” he added.
He said that the present government’s consideration was that the country needed water storage to meet the needs of the growing population. “We have to cultivate more land and water storage is critical for it.”
The premier said that there is huge land in DI Khan besides hundreds of thousand-acre barren land in Balochistan. He said that that ‘10-year dams’ would double the water storage and help cultivate the barren land besides dealing with climate change issue by producing clean energy through water. During the ceremony he also highlighted the fact that Kalabagh dam is at the optimal site for the construction of a water reservoir. The people of Sindh need to be taken into confidence that Sindh’s water would not be affected by the construction of Kalabagh dam.
