munda dam to be built on river swat

The report that expressions of interest will be invited for consultancy services for the design and preparation of tender documents for the Munda dam has resulted in optimism that work on the dam could begin soon. The delay in undertaking controversial dam projects for which a national consensus has not been reached is understandable. But procrastination in projects for which there is a consensus — as in the case of Munda dam proposed to be built on the River Swat — is not. The project has been in the pipelines for over a decade. It has already been approved by the various relevant national forums, including parliament. But attempts several years ago to undertake the project through a consortium of private-sector partners landed the matter in court, where the case is still pending.
The building of dams for irrigation and power is a necessity to cope with power and food shortages. Dams also constitute an important measure in flood mitigation. The advantages of the Munda dam project are well recognised and most experts agree its advantages outweigh any adverse impacts. Apart from a water storage reservoir of 1.3 million acre feet and a power generation capacity of 740 megawatts, the dam’s two planned canals on the right and left banks will help to irrigate nearly 30,000 acres of farmland in Mohmand Agency, Tangi tehsil in Charsadda district and Malakand Agency.

Not only is overall farm production expected to increase in these localities, the favourable impact is expected to spill over into the non-farm sector. Besides, the reservoir behind the dam would also provide recreational facilities and give a boost to the surrounding fisheries. All in all, Munda dam can bring considerable improvement to the lives of the people living near it — areas which have been ravaged by terrorism. With national consensus, hopefully there will be no snags this time.

Read more »

Blast targeting Kohat police colony kills 21

Twenty-one people were killed and 70 wounded in a bomb attack targeting police residential quarters in Kohat on Tuesday, Geo News reported Tuesday.

"Twenty-one people have been killed and 70 wounded, and there were women and children among the injured," a senior police official said.

"It was a big explosion. I am on site and can see the smoke. Several people have been wounded," he said.

"It was a car bomb blast, we are investigating whether the car was parked or was exploded by a suicide bomber," Khalid Khan, Commissioner Kohat said.

Rescue workers were facing difficulties as electricity was suspended after the blast.

The law enforcement personnel have cordoned off entire area. Police said a nearby police residential complex had also been severely damaged and houses had collapsed, trapping several people in the rubble.

Police said it was a bomb blast but they were investigating whether a suicide bomber had targeted the area or someone had planted a bomb.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik strongly condemned the Kohat bomb blast and sought an inquiry report from the Inspector General Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani have strongly condemned the bomb blast in Kohat and termed it as the most heinous crime against innocent civilians on the sacred day of 27th Ramazan.

Militants have launched a series of attacks in the past week as Muslims mark the final days of the holy month of Ramazan.

Read more »

Taliban bomb girls’ school near Peshawar

The Taliban bombed another government girls’ high school in the Landi Arbab area of Peshawar on Monday, police and local residents said. Local residents told Daily Times that terrorists planted the explosives around the school during load shedding, which had exploded at 2am. According to police officials, the blast damaged the walls and windows of the school but the institution’s watchman remained safe. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak said that the number of schools destroyed due to the massive floods and terrorist attacks had risen to 2,000 and Rs 5 billion would be required for their reconstruction. Babak said that the floods had damaged around 900 schools in the province out of which 226 had been completely destroyed. The provincial education minister said that around 1,000 schools had been destroyed due to terrorist attacks. He said that more than 50 percent of the flood affectees who had taken refuge in government schools had returned to their homes.

Read more »