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No Taunsa-Panjnad water for Punjab

By: Zamir Sheikh | Published: June 25, 2009

KARACHI - A high-level meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday decided to overcome water shortage in Sindh by reducing the flows of Taunsa-Panjnand, and if needed be closed. 
Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri said this at a media briefing after the meeting was held at Bilawal House to discuss water shortage in the province. The meeting was informed that due to lack of water in River Indus, Sindh was expected to face acute water shortage. 
Provincial Minister for Irrigation and Power, Syed Murad Ali Shah, had raised the issue of expected water shortages in a meeting with President Zardari on June 20 and in the light of that the latter called an urgent meeting here on Wednesday.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat ul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali, ministers, Secretary General to President, Salman Farooqui, officials of the ministry of water and power, IRSA and WAPDA also attended the meeting. 
It was decided in the meeting that there would be no further storage in Tarbela, which had started from 17th June due to some technical problem in turbines. The decision to stop storing water in Tarbela was taken to meet the requirements of people in the downstream.
President Zardari reiterated the commitment to serve people as per the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. He issued special directives to ensure that the land-grant policy should focus on women in particular. 
The President also gave directives to initiate a study on Manchar Lake and find ways to cleanse the polluted water even if it flows to the sea. “The sea must not be polluted with acid water”, she said while quoting the President.
About National Highway Authority, the major decisions taken regarding construction of highways were to immediately start work on Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M9) at a cost of Rs8 billion. Work on M9 will start in October 2009 and is expected to complete by the end of 2011. 
The President also approved a comprehensive uplift package worth over Rs24 billion for Larkana.
A special meeting on fisheries was held as a follow-up of President’s visit to the European Union (EU) in which it was decided that the Karachi Fish Harbour would be upgraded in accordance with the EU requirements. The President directed Sindh government to accelerate the fish production in rural Sindh. It was also decided that a welfare plan would be designed for the fishermen in Sindh, which would ensure better income opportunities for them. Besides, the fishermen, who were facing huge financial losses due to the closure of fishing work, will be compensated through Benazir Income Support Programme.