Daily Times

PESHAWAR: No final decision has been made to build any water reservoir, including Kalabagh Dam, and a dam will not be constructed if reservations against it are valid, said Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli, minister of state for information and broadcasting.

Talking to reporters after a book-launch ceremony at the Iranian Cultural Centre on Sunday, she said the government’s decision would be in Pakistan’s best interest.

The minister said the government would not make a hasty decision. “It will consider all pros and cons. More talks will be held in and outside the parliament and the issue will also be discussed at provincial level,” she said.

She said dialogue between the government and those who opposed the dam were satisfactorily advancing, and the president, the prime minister, WAPDA and the provincial governments were playing their role. She said the president would visit Sindh and the NWFP soon.

She did not comment on Pakistan Peoples’ Party-Sherpao’s position on Kalabagh Dam and its senior leader, Mian Muzaffar Shah’s participation in Awami National Party’s Jahangira rally to oppose the dam. “There is no clash. We have to develop consensus on the issue,” she said.

The minister said Kalabagh Dam, if built, would affect only 2,900 acres of barren land and 100 acres of fertile land in the NWFP’s affected districts. The 42,000 people made homeless because of the dam would be rehabilitated, she added.

She said she was pleased with the Council of Common Interests’ revival and said the entire nation favoured water reservoirs.

Commenting on the removal of prayer method from the curriculum, she said several sects had their own method of prayer, which could be taught to children at home.