Pakistan Wasting Water Worth $10-15 Billion Every Year: Khursheed Shah.

LAHORE -- Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah visited WAPDA House on Saturday and had a briefing about the progress as well as post-flood situation at under-construction WAPDA projects.

Addressing the participants, the federal minister underlined the significance of constructing dams and hydropower projects. He said this is our collective responsibility to move forward for harnessing water resources in the country. This will enable us to store water for irrigation, control floods and generate low-cost and environment friendly hydel electricity. Reviewing the post-flood situation, the federal minister expressed satisfaction over the contingency plans of WAPDA to mitigate the possible delays in completion of the projects due to the recent floods. He assured that Ministry of Water Resources would fully support WAPDA in this regard.

Earlier, Chairman WAPDA Lt Gen (r) Sajjad Ghani apprised the federal minister about the grim water situation in Pakistan. He said we have no other option but to build more dams to improve water situation in the country. He also informed the minister about adverse impact of the recent floods on the construction sites of Dasu Hydropower Project and Mohmand Dam. The chairman said every effort is being made to resume construction activities on these projects in the shortest possible time by devising an effective strategy. It is worth mentioning here that WAPDA is constructing 10 projects in water and hydropower sectors with gross water storage capacity of 11.7 MAF and power generation capacity of 11,268 MW.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah has said that we are wasting water worth $ 10 to 15 billion every year while we look to the world for the aid of $2 billion.

He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir presented the address of welcome while Senior Vice President and Vice President Haris Ateeq also spoke on the occasion. Former LCCI office-bearers and Executive Committee Members were also present.

Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah said that we were planning to increase agriculture production to export but the floods have given a big blow. He said that water capacity of Pakistan is 140 million acre feet but the storage capacity is only 13 million acre feet. He said that the infrastructure is being built that will increase the storage capacity by 14 to 15 million acre feet. He said that 80% economy is related...