Hydropower

A stitch in time saves nine . We have miserably failed to exploit fully the vast hydropower natural potential of our land over the past seventy four years . This is unpardonable and all the successive governments and leaders are held responsible for their inaction and lack of foresight depriving the nation of much needed cheaper clean energy and water storages . If decisions of national importance are not taken on time , the nation has to pay a heavy price , as we are doing today . Out of over sixty th’ousand MW potential , only fifteen percent have been realised . We failed to build large and medium sized hydropower projects when their construction cost was much less and when these could be funded by the World Bank and other international donars at much less interest rates and soft loans . We are in the habit of politicizing national projects of great importance . The example of Kalabagh Dam project is worth mentioning . Had it been built thirty years back , much of our water and power problems would have been solved . The total cost of the project , at that time , was only 2 . 5 billion Dollars and was to be fully funded by the World Bank . Now the cost stands at over 15 billion Dollars. A dam downstream of Tarbela is important also as a replacement when Tarbela gets stilted up . The fate of Basha dam hangs in balance due to inadequate financing . The United States developed all its hydro potential long long time ago by making it their first priority . We have failed to learn from others . Will our polticians and leaders be ever held accountable for not taking the right decisions at the right time ?
Riaz Bhutta
Lahore