LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President and former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said that Bhasha Dam was inaugurated by former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf along with former deputy prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in 2006. “Now prior to its inclusion in its election manifesto, N-League should first tell why it was blocked for 10 years? The water issue has become an issue of security and existence of Pakistan. Order of the Chief Justice for immediate construction of Bhasha Dam is of historical importance and hopefully, whichever new government will come will implement this order of the Supreme Court in accordance with its spirit,” he said. In a statement on Sunday, he said that Bhasha Dam started in 2006 during “our government and this has also been proved during recent proceedings of the SC that the Pakistan People’s Party and N-League government discontinued its work, but thanks to Almighty Allah, the Chief Justice has heard the petition of the nation and has issued the order for its immediate construction”. Shujaat Hussain said that we keep chanting the slogan of democracy but it is a matter of great regret that whatever work was to be done by the politicians, that too has to be done by the judiciary. He said that back in 1966, the World Bank in its report had warned Pakistani government that by 1990, Pakistan will need another dam with Mangla and Tarbela capacity but today even after 30 years, if the Kalabagh Dam has not been constructed then its responsibility lies with the politicians. “Had politicians kept national interest over and above their political interest then by now Kalabagh Dam would have been constructed and people would have been getting cheap electricity at the rate of Rs 2.50 per unit,” he said, adding that during Pervaiz Elahi’s five-year tenure in Punjab, he paid full attention on the construction of dams. A total of 45 small dams were constructed at the cost of Rs 11 billion due to which more than 15,000 acres of barren land in Jhelum, Chakwal, Attock and Rawalpindi became cultivable. Repairs and expansion of Taunsa Barrage and Thal Canal was done at a cost of Rs 75 billion and with construction of 850 kilometres of concrete water courses, the water level had reached its tail for the first time in South Punjab and agricultural production in south Punjab had registered a record increase. “This is the reason that cultivator of South Punjab remembers our tenure even today,” he said. Published in Daily Times, July 9th 2018.