Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah Wednesday said Pakistan would face the worst water crisis if construction work on water reservoirs was not completed timely.
The minister, who was chairing a meeting regarding the construction of four dams said that water resources were the lifeline of a country. The minister warned that negligence in the construction of reservoirs could not be afforded.
Shah said that even though the collation government only has a year left of its term but it will work on a war footing to complete the water reservoirs. He asked the relevant authorities to immediately prepare the feasibility report of the tunnel to be built on the Diamer-Bhasha Dam.
Regarding Daimer-Bhasha, Dasu, Thakot, and Pattan dams, the minister was told by the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) officials that the National Highway Authority (NHA) had not undertaken the feasibility of any other highway except the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to connect the four dams.
The KKH was an important highway, but the NHA had not yet started work on its up-gradation, they added.
The officials said that the construction work on the 24-km link road of Thor Nala Bypass near the Daimer-Bhasha Dam was also pending though it was decided that the NHA would complete it by June 30. WAPDA had paid all the required funds to the departments concerned but NHA was seeking eight months more to complete the road, they added.
NHA Chairman Muhammad Khurram Agha, Water Resources Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz, WAPDA Chairman Naveed Asghar Chaudhry, and other officials attended the meeting.
