ISLAMABAD, Feb 15 (APP):Minister for Water Resources Syed Javed Ali Shah
on Thursday said that water policy will be tabled within next 10 days as it is
about to be finalized soon after consultation with experts.
He stated this while responding to a supplementary question in the Senate and said that
meeting of high-ups was held on Thursday which decided to table the policy in next 10 days.
To a question about water
scarcity, he said that due to change in hydro-meteorological conditions since
start of the September, the river inflows remained stressed. Indus River System Authority (IRSA), keeping
in view the condition of the standing Kharif Crops, in cooperation with the
stakeholders, was releasing full share to the provinces by augmenting the river
flows through stored water in dams, he added.
About water preservation in the country, he said that WAPDA
has prepared a master plan to construct new dams to preserve rain water in the
country. In last decade, WAPDA has completed Mangla Dam Raising (2.88 MAF),
Gomal Zam Dam (0.892 MAF), Satpara Dam (0.053 MAF) and Darawat Dam (0.089 MAF)
to store water respectively.
Diamer Basha (6.4 MAF)& Mohmand (Munda) (0.676 MAF) is
ready for construction and KurramTangi (0.90 MAF) and Nai Gaj Dam (0.16 MAF)
are under implementation. WAPDA is also planning to construct Akhori Dam (6.0
MAF), Shyok Dam (5.5 MAF) and Chiniot Dam (1.0 MAF), he added.
