LAHORE – While showing a grave concern over the Indian Supreme Court order to implement an ambitious project to interlink 30 rivers, traders have appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to order work on all dams including Kalabagh Dam on war footing.
They said that Indian government in connivance with the Indian Supreme Court is hatching conspiracies to turn Pakistan barren. The project interlinking the 30 rivers was made in 2002 while a task force was also formed in India for the purpose but unfortunately the government of Pakistan did not bother to prepare a counter strategy and played the role of silent spectator on the issue.
They said that Kalabagh dam is a project of national importance but present regime shelved the project with a one stroke of pen. Pakistan Industrial & Traders Association Front Chairman Sohail Lashari urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to initiate suomotto proceedings and direct work on Kalabagh Dam.
He said that the Pakistan Industrial & Traders Association Front (PIAF) along with other subject specialists & experts would belie before the judiciary all the wrong perceptions about Kalabagh Dam.  He said that it would be proved that the construction of Kalabagh Dam is of utmost importance to get rid of electricity shortage, closure of industry and unemployement.
He said that Kalabagh Dam could generate cheap electricity but federal government shelved the project with one stroke of the pen and utilizing all energies to generate costly electricity through furnace oil.

He said that electricity prices in Bangladesh & India are 9.5 cent and 9 cents respectively while in Pakistan electricity prices are 14 cent per unit.
Sohail Lashari said that manufacturing growth is stagnant and hardly around 2.3 percent while burden of internal and external debts getting heavier with every passing day. He said that industry can not grow by using much costly electricity. Pakistani products are already losing their share in the international market and situation would nose dive if Kalabagh Dam is not constructed on war footing.
He said that renowned scientist Samar Mand Mubarak, former Chairman WAPDA Shamasul Mulk and various foreign experts have termed the Kalabagh Dam necessary for Pakistan but government seems least interested in construction of Kalabagh Dam.
Had a little attention been given towards the construction of Kalabagh Dam in past, today country would have ample electricity and prosperity in all corners.
Chairman PIAF said that Chief Justice has already rendered marvelous services for the nation by taking suo moto notices. He appealed to the Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to take suo moto notice on Kalabagh Dam.