An American consultant once said to the then Wapda chairman, Engineer Shamsul Mulk, that mega dams were scars on the face of a country. He replied, the bigger scars are those of hunger and poverty on the faces of our children. This was many years ago and the mega dam of Kalabagh dam that could have instead held back hunger and poverty is nowhere in sight. What could be more ironical than that the poor are getting ready to vote in the name of the person who is responsible for holding back the mega dam that could have saved them from hunger and poverty. If they vote her party into power again they can forget about Kalabagh dam and be prepared for the scars of hunger and poverty on the faces of their children. It is sheer madness to think that we can survive without growth in agriculture, which requires more water, which requires more dams, not in 12 years but in 6 years. We would have had that dam more than 12 years ago but for our short-sighted leaders. KHURSHID ANWER, Lahore, November 3.