FAISALABAD: Unconditional support of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) for the immediate construction of Kala Bagh Dam is a positive step to create much-needed consensus on the construction of this mega project of national importance.

Acting President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Usman Rauf said this in a statement issued here on Tuesday. The FCCI acting chief appreciated the suo motu notice of Supreme Court of Pakistan on this important issue and said that every patriotic Pakistani is disturbed with the prevailing shortage of water which is heading from stress like situation towards acute shortage. He further said that Kala Bagh Dam is purely a technical issue which has been unnecessarily politicized. He expressed concern on ecological changes and said that construction of dams by India on rivers supplying water to Pakistan is a matter of serious concern.

He said that as per international yardstick, every country should have minimum water storage capacity of 120 days, but Pakistan has only storage capacity of 30 days. He said that due to the sedimentation of silt, the storage capacity of existing water reservoirs was also gradually decreasing. Narrating the overall economic situation of Pakistan, Acting President FCCI said that pre-dominantly Pakistan is an agrarian economy.

“Sixty percent of our population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture but water supply is gradually reducing which may also hit hard our issues of food security,” he added. Usman Rauf said that FPCCI is an apolitical institution and it has rightly pointed out that construction of new water reservoirs are imperative for the economic survival of Pakistan.