Pakistan’s apex court, on Tuesday, directed the federal and provincial governments to immediately release funds required for construction of the Nai Gaj Dam.
A three-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, directed the federal and provincial governments to ensure a timely provision of funds to the Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) required for the dam. The court also asked the planning division and secretary irrigation of Sindh to provide reports in this regard.
Justice Ahmed recalled, “Do they [the government] not remember what happened in the 2010 floods? All the flood water had collected in the Nai Gaj area”
He warned, “All the rainfall in Sindh will also go to waste.”
Expressing displeasure over the Sindh government’s performance, the judge said that it did not want to work or even see any development in the province.
‘All the rainfall in Sindh will also go to waste’: Judge Ahmed
The bench lamented, “Funds are allocated for the Nai Gaj Dam every year and that money is then wasted. The matter has been going on for 30 years.” The deputy attorney general responded that the federal government was ready to release its share of funds but the provincial government had not yet given any reply in this regard. The judge sighed, ” Matters of public interest are shifted to each others’ shoulders [by the federal and provincial governments]. What is the Sindh government’s problem?”
Justice Gulzar questioned whether there was no coordination between the federal and provincial governments. The hearing was adjourned for a month. The top court was hearing a petition moved by senior counsel, Rasheed A. Razvi, to seek the court to direct authorities to provide funds required to overcome hurdles in the way of Nai Gaj Dam’s construction. He appealed that the construction process was blocking the inflow of a considerable quantity of fresh water to Manchar Lake. While WAPDA had proposed 50 cusecs of a continuous piped water supply to the lake from the dam, the petition asked the court to consider increasing the water flow to 100 cusecs. Nai Gaj is a hill torrent that spreads out of Khuzdar district in Balochistan and enters Manchar lake after passing through Kutch plains. Though it remains dry for eight months, the torrent gets water during monsoon season.
When Manchar lake receives more water from Nai Gaj than it can hold, flood-protection bunds often get devastated; inundating agricultural lands. The petition claimed that after this destruction, much of the water is wasted as it falls into the sea. Nai Ganj dam is expected to ensure a continuous flow of fresh water to Manchar lake, and improve its ecological balance in addition to serving as an economic lifeline for the people in Dadu district.
Published in Daily Times, March 6th 2019.
