LAHORE, July 8: Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) President and former Prime Minister Ch Shujaat Hussain has said that Bhasha Dam was inaugurated by General Pervez Musharraf and Ch Parvez Elahi in 2006, now prior to its inclusion in its election manifesto N-League should first tell why it was blocked for 10 years, water issue has become a n 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.
In a statement issue Sunday, he said that Bhasha Dam was started in 2006 during our government and this has also been proved during recent proceedings of the Supreme Court that People Party and N-League government kept work on it stopped but thanks to Almighty Allah, the Chief Justice has heard the petition of the nation and has issued the order for its immediate construction.
Ch Shujaat Hussain said that we politics keep sing democracy, democracy song but it is a matter of great regrets that whatever work was to be done by the politicians that too has to be done by the judiciary, politicians saying that the Chief Justice interferes is not correct because who had kept politicians stopped politicians from construction of Bhasha Dam.
He said that back in 1966, World Bank in its report had warned Pakistan government that by 1990 Pakistan will need another dam with Mangla and Tarbela capacity but today even after 30 years if Kalabagh Dam has not been constructed then its responsibility lies with us politicians exigencies, 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.
Ch Shujaat Hussain said that during Ch Parvez Elahi during his five years tenure in Punjab paid full attention on construction of dams, 45 small dams were constructed at the cost of Rs 11 billion due to which more than 15 thousand 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 kilometers of concrete water courses water had reached till tail for the first time in South Punjab and agricultural production had in south Punjab had registered record increase, this is the reason that cultivator of south Punjab remembers our tenure even today. -NNI
